Devil Within
by Xulkandor
Summary: Ranma and Ryoga discover they have more in common than they thought and find out they are the heirs of a dark legacy that threatens everything they ever cared about.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ so don't sue please. I do own Z however he is all mine.

Note: This is my very first fanfic and I know I have bad grammar but I am working to improve it so pleasure bare with me when it comes to that. Otherwise hope you like it. Now on with the story.

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Somewhere it is said that every single member of the human race has a purpose in life. Whether it be something grand and spectacular our small and seemingly mundane it is there waiting to be fulfilled by that someone that fate has chosen to complete the task or tasks that have been laid out before them. This has been a concept that has plagued the one known as Ryoga Hibiki for quite some time now, for here was a young man that if a person actually took the time and actually study him they would have to wonder if he actually had a purpose in life.

This young man who has been given the nickname as the eternally lost boy was someone who defiantly had the short end of the stick in life. A young martial artist who started life like any other individual who comes into this world, well at least those who had a good start in life. Two people coming together who loved each other and through their union produced a symbol of their love in the form of a child. One who was young and innocent to the world, who would learn from his father and nurtured by his mother, a child who's sparkling eyes showed he would was going to be a great man when he grew up. A laugh showed that despite everything that was wrong with the world there was still good things within it.

What the hell happened?

At first everything started to go so well. The young Ryoga Hibiki was starting off life so well. He would Explore, Play, make friends, get hurt, cry, laugh like any little boy his age all the while being watch over by his mother and father. When you are a child you don't think about the negative in the world…and you want to do is have fun and learn new things…..normally the hard way.

It wasn't until he was five years old when he noticed that things were beginning to change. Even if children want things to be perfect they are not stupid when things go wrong. His parents were around less and less often. At first the young Hibiki didn't think much of it as they always would give him stories like: "Oh Your mother is out with friends." "Your father is away on business and would be back in a few days."

Of course, being a kid you would trust your parents you know the right things and know what to do when something goes wrong. Kids are like that…they look up to their parents and trust them to handle things. But, kids aren't stupid, after all, how can a trip to the market last three days? Or going around the block to visit a friend suddenly takes a week. It go to the points where Ryoga was lucky is one parent remained home but even then that was worrying because he found himself having to hold their hands and lead them throughout the house in order to get to point A to point B.

It was getting to the point where even have one parent around was beginning to be a luxury. Ryoga would sometimes spend some nights crying himself to sleep wondering what was going on with his family, why weren't they around? Did he do something wrong…ok sure there was the fire incident but father grew his eyebrow's back.

It was about a year later when he noticed that weird things were happening to him. At first it didn't seem so bad really. He would go to leave his room after playing with his toys and would end up in the closet or he would go to the living room to watch some TV and only end up in his parent's room.

Weird?...Yes, but crap starts getting real when you find yourself running from your room to the bathroom because you have to go take a leak and find that it took you a whole 20 minutes, or when you go to the kitchen to grab yourself a snake only to find that you are on the roof of your next door neighbor's home. It was at this point where Ryoga had to seriously look at himself and wonder what the hell is going on. Besides his parents who else knew his home better than him but he found himself talking 5-10 min just trying to get to the next room and as time went on it was becoming harder and harder to find his way around. How could this be possible?

Whatever the reason maybe, thank God for his little puppy checkers. He remembered how his father got her as a present for him after being gone for so long. He also took this time to tell him about the Hibiki directional curse…well the gist of it anywhere. He didn't want to bother him with the details considering he was still very young.

Regardless of the news Ryoga was more than happy to have checkers in his life. Truth be told this cute little K-9 would be the best gift he would ever receive. Not only was she the young man's best friend the young pup would act as a seeing eye dog while didn't make sense because everyone who met Ryoga knows he had good eye sight but if anyone knew the Hibiki family they knew it made perfect sense. Although Ryoga found it odd that the young K-9 Had Black fur on her left side and white fur on her right but in the end did it really matter?

Despite everything Ryoga tried to make the best of things. With the help of Checkers he managed to get to school on most days, he loved it because it was practically the only time where he wasn't alone, and while his directional sense was bad it wasn't in full-fledge Hibiki mode. Sure, he would get lost at school but it wasn't quite at the boundaries of ludicrous yet. However, everything seemed to take a turn for the worst the moment he entered Junior High.

Nothing seemed to go right. In his younger years of school Ryoga was able to hide his curse to some degree but now it was working overtime. It was like the curse was trying to make up for lost time. Ryoga found it harder and harder to just to get to his class room never mind making it on time. Going to the lunchroom with the rest of the class would just end up with him being in the janitor's closet. A run around the track during P.E. would take him halfway through the city. Of course kids are always looking for the next interesting thing to gain their attention and his classmates picked RIGHT up on this.

At first it was simple, light teasing giving him the name that would forever be bound to him as the "eternal lost boy". Of course, as everyone knew kids can be so cruel especially is no one of author tells them to stop. So what turned out to be teasing grew into pranks and from there to downright cruelty. Now, this is not to say that Ryoga wasn't bothered by this, quite the opposite he was downright livid. But he tried to keep cool about it and pretend to ignore them, remembering the words of his mother telling him to not get into fights out of anger if he were to raise his fist it should be to help someone not hurt them, of course there were times where he broke his promise and chase after with the intend to inflict massive amounts of pain upon them but they always had the plan to scatter and before Hibiki could bring justice to them he would just end up getting lost…always getting lost.

Whenever he did manage to find his home after searching for days, weeks, even months at a time he would go inside and checkers was always there to greet him with a pounce and lick his face. With his parents always gone, the kids at school always teasing and picking on him or don't even do anything to help him. It was being home with his dog that he felt that things would be ok. He could endure as long as he had his best friend waiting to greet him every time he finally came home after each trip.

As Ryoga continued to grow and went through Junior High school things would be put into place for him. He realized that if he wanted the teasing to stop he was going to have to become strong...stronger than anyone around. His father taught him some martial arts but there was always room for improvement. His trips to being lost were suddenly turned into an advantage. Going to random locations he suddenly found himself observing various fighting styles. Sure he manage to catch some tournaments and watch some martial arts movies but he learned that some of the best fighters didn't need awards or to show off their skills for the approval of others…there was just the fight and ways to improve their skill and Ryoga was there to catch whatever he could. He normally would stay in the shadows and watch when masters each their students the art and practice what he saw or he would ask teachers directly to give him a lesson or two. While being lost made it easy for him to pick up some things it was also hard sometimes because he would stumble upon a martial art that he was interested in becoming a full time student over not to mention that a lot of masters often complimented him on his raw potential but, that was ok, he was strong and his school knew this.

By the 8th grade no one messed with Ryoga in fact, everyone feared him in some form or other. Of course, that is normally the case when you went a person into the hospital. After one of his longer trips the lost boy returned to school only to be greeted by some of the bullies that have been picking on him earlier. The group of bullies decided to throw rocks at Ryoga this time around. Considering the random nature of his directional curse it became too much trouble to play complex pranks only to get bored of waiting.

One of the rocks manages to his Ryoga on the side of the cheek but to their confusion it didn't even leave a mark. If anything it only got his attention and look upon them with annoyance. Of course not ones to be deprived of their entertainment one of the boys threw a bigger rock at the lost boy it was about the size of a fist and they knew if this didn't get him steaming nothing will. Imagine their surprise when he saw the lost boy actually catch it like it was a baseball.

It was by this time where they were drawing quite a crowd who all gasp as they watch Ryoga literally break the large stone in half. With a confident smirk Ryoga hurled the right half the stone at the same boy who threw it at him. The stone manage to catch the boy's right arm instantly breaking it on contact, he fell instant screaming in pain.

Everyone gasp over what just happened as they all looked at the downed bully and then at Ryoga who was holding the second half of the rock in his left hand. When it looked like the rest of the game was going to charge at the lost boy for hurting their friend. Ryoga just brought up the half-rock and crushed it with his left hand followed by a lock that just screamed. _'Just try it'_

Needless to say that they took the hint rather quickly and ran off leaving their friend to be tended to by the teachers. Normally there would be serious repercussions at any other school for such an act but this was an all-boys school and boys had to be strong besides if anything it was self-defense. Even if it wasn't, what were they going to do? Ryoga's parents were never home and everyone knew it.

The boy of course had to be sent to the hospital for a cast. Everyone was looking at Ryoga as if he should be sorry for doing such an act but on the contrary, Ryoga couldn't be happier, everyone knew that he was no one to mess with. Every once in a while someone would try to show how tough they were by taking him on but after a foot to the face they went down quick. Sure, he would have loved to have been friends with them earlier on instead of them always picking at him but that was in the past, no one was going to make him be the fool anymore.

After that event life went on. Ryoga manage to earn himself a reputation as one to be feared and avoided. This however, did bring a bit of sadness to Ryoga because he would love to have some friends who were at least his own species. He hoped that after he took care of the bullies he would be able to get some friends but it seemed that was too much to ask. It was alright anyway because at least no one picked on him or made fun of him. He was just one of the students who went to the school. Sure, he didn't have any official friends but that was alright because no at least he could live his life without complication…..save for the curse of course. The boys around them noticed that he seemed to be happier and some even came around and began talking to him.

Sense before he could even remember things were finally starting to go right.

…Until HE ruined everything.

Ryoga was coming off a week long journey of being lost and just arrived at school just in time for lunch. He saw the rampaging crowd of young males inside the cafeteria all fighting, screaming, and clawing at each other in hopes to get some of the food that would be provided. He was tired, thirsty, hungry but through it all of it he had a smirk on his face. Sometimes he wondered why the school went to such lengths to enforce their "Only the Strong gets to eat" policy but it didn't matter to him. Despite his current condition he was the strongest one and everyone knew it, he would be able to snag a couple of pieces of bread and leave the rest for his school mates after all he wasn't greedy or anything but he had every right to be considering he hadn't even eaten in days.

Ryoga calmly watched the lunch lady as she threw the one piece of curry bread that ended up changing his life forever. He jumped higher than the law of gravity should have allowed. With his arm extended out to grab the last piece of curry bread, he was practically drooling as he closer to it. He could practically taste it now, that delicious…..rubber taste.

Rubber taste?

Ryoga landed back in the sea of boys as he felt a throbbing on his face. As he placed a hand on it in an attempt to lower the sensation he put two and two together and realized what happened. Someone just used him as a stepping stone in order to get the bread. Turning around he moved through the sea of students and found the perpetrator who had the one meal he had in three days already in his damn mouth.

There he was a young man just like him standing with such cool confidence. The lost boy took in his features very carefully. From his posture and the way he carried himself to the fact that the boy wasn't even really eating the bread yet. It was almost like a challenge unto it's self as if daring him to try to take back this piece of bread before he took a real bite. But, more than anything Ryoga looked this kid right in his eyes…those arrogant, ocean blue eyes and demanded to know who he was. He watched at the new comer calmly remove the bread from his mouth after taking a bite out of it and proceeded to answer his question.

Ranma Saotome

Ryoga listened to the named with the upmost intensity. He didn't know why, and he really couldn't explain it at first but there was just something about this guy that just made his blood boil. It wasn't the bread…after all it was just bread and as far as eating goes he has gone on longer without eating.

No, this kid was challenging him.

The next day at lunch Ryoga was standing just outside the rampaging crowd of boys who were waiting for the meal of the day…or rather screaming for their meal of the day. Ryoga had his hands pocket and calmly waited as the cook proceeded with her daily routine of yelling out the type of bread and tossing it at the abyss of JR high students but Ryoga didn't move instead he waited. He caught this Ranma calmly leaning against the wall with his hands on the back of his head looking like he doesn't have a care in the world. But what got his attention was the fact that Ranma wasn't going after the bread either and right after he figured this out Ranma looked over at him with an arrogant smirk placed on his features.

He locked eyes with the blue eyed jerk and discovered this theory was correct this wasn't about the bread…that was just the prize. This was about him….it was clear that Ranma was new and must have heard the rumors about him. Well if he wanted a competition he was going to get it there was no way he was going to back down from this punk.

When the lunch lady called out the latest piece of bread to be thrown Ryoga's eyes narrowed at Ranma suddenly launched himself at the bread and almost instantly he saw Ranma followed suit going for the same prize.

Ryoga manage to manage to grab hold of the bread and smiled gleefully that he was able to win this exchange but when he tried to pull it towards him there was resistance and he saw that Ranma had the other end of it. The lost boy roared at him to let go as he went to punch him in which Ranma quickly blocked. Not wanting to be the looser in this confrontation he proceeded to launch a side kick towards Ranma's chest unfortunately for him his adversary at the same idea and they were both launched to opposite sides of the cafeteria hitting the walls and sliding to the ground.

Some of the students actually took the time to look at the exchanged and were flabbergasted that this all took place in mid-air in what seemed like a split second of course they couldn't be distracted for too long or they wouldn't manage to get any food.

The lost boy didn't mind being hit because he could still feel the bread in his hand but when he looked down het saw that he only had half of it. It wasn't a complete victory but hell he will take it and he proceeded to scarf it down before getting up to see how this Ranma was.

To his surprise Ranma was just chewing away at the bread without a care in the world. He did catch a glimpse of Ryoga and gave him a cheerful wave at time as if telling him: 'good one'. This confused the lost boy to know end…just what was this guy's plan. Ryoga knew he was good...very good, perhaps as good as he was. He could just feel that they were similar, perhaps too similar and he didn't like that one bit. He worked his ass off to get where he was today, constant loneness, and wandering the word, learning what he could to be strong. Was he the most popular guy in school, no, but he was the strongest and after enduring the crap that was his life he finally manage to get a nice medium.

Now, here was this **Ranma Saotome** who was challenging everything he worked so hard to achieve. Ryoga heard about this guy earlier before lunch, he learned that like him he practiced martial arts, he was easy going and the kids at school like him. He was described as an all around fun-loving guy.

In a sense as a lot of people pointed out, he was the better version of Ryoga and that is what turns the switch in the Lost Boy's mind. He knew it was most than the challenge it was the fact this in a weird way this Ranma and himself were practically the same. Similar but different one positive one negative and that is why he would get mad whenever he saw him.

To him it didn't matter if he didn't have any human friends, he had checkers…it didn't matter if he only saw his parents when the planets aligned, as long as he was strongest and people knew it…as long as he could stand tall and no one messed with him, then he would get by was it perfect no, but at least he have a place in the world.

Didn't He see that….maybe he did and wanted that spot for himself. Maybe it was all fun and games to him. Well, whatever the reason that was irrelevant all he knew was that he needed to beat this Ryoga knew he had to defeat this man….. This Ranma Saotome.

"It all seemed like a life time ago to someone else."

Indeed it was years ago, and now here was The Eternal lost boy known as Ryoga Hibiki was sitting upon some grass in a forest clearing with his legs cross and his arms folded thinking about past events and everything that lead him up to this point in his life. The truth was that he didn't know why he was searching through his thoughts…perhaps he was searching for answers he couldn't find within all of his travels.

He was heading back to Nerima but he didn't know why? It was like something out of habit….sometimes he would end up there when he didn't even want to be there. There was nothing truly there for him. Sure the wedding between Ranma and Akane failed thanks to Saffron incident but that didn't mean that they weren't going to try again later.

~_Oh Akane_~ Ryoga thoughts went to the youngest of the Tendo girls. Her beautiful smile, her caring face, and the way she just seems to make the day even brighter. ~_NO!_~ He quickly shook his head to relieve himself of the images. ~_No! Stop it Ryoga! There is no longer any point…Not anymore._~

He has already come to terms with the relationship between his arch rival Ranma and his love Akane. If he would have heard about the wedding second hand he would have called it a damn lie but after he saw the look in their eyes when they stared at each other after the battle with the phoenix. The look that they reserved for no else but themselves, the look that said more than words ever could. When he saw it with his own eyes…that is when he knew he lost the love of his life completely to Ranma Saotome.

Depression began to set within him again as he took a deep breath. He couldn't help but wonder why he was going back. There was nothing there for him to back to. Sure, like everyone else there he too was caught up in the maelstrom known as Ranma but even then everyone else had an anchor there too keep them in one form or another. Ukyo had her business to run and as long as the wedding wasn't final she would continue to pursue Ranma in to thinking that she is the only one for him. Shampoo being another fiancé would continue to chase her "___Arien". With that old ghoul around to help her, of course Moose would always be around shampoo no matter what. But he didn't have such centers in his life especially within that place. _

___Ryoga closed his eyes and let a small chuckle escape his lips. It was almost ironic really…he originally followed Ranma in order to finish the duel for the simple fact that he felt that he was being erased by that arrogant jerk but in the end did he even really exist in the first place? After everything that happened after all the training, all the victories, all the defeats, all the training to increase his martial arts…what did he truly gain out of it all? He was still lost, and he still had that damn Pig curse. _

___Well perhaps one good thing came out of it. He will give Ranma this…he never would have gotten this far as a martial artist if it wasn't for Ranma always pushing him. At this point in his life he was Ranma equal and he knew it but if he challenged him and defeat him now what would he gain out of it? To say that he beat Ranma? Big deal, he has beaten him before no, he needed to focus on something else. His life didn't revolved around Ranma he would leave Ranma be…he would find his own place in the world…a new beginning if you will and finding a cure for his damn _Jusenkyo would be a good start. But, for now Nerima was calling him, it was almost like some weird invisible force that compelled him to go back there for whatever reason.

___A gust a wind suddenly picked up and which caused his hands to tighten around his arms which caused him to hear the crunching sound of paper. His Brown eyes wondered down upon his Yellow shirt and there nestled between his left bicep and his right hand was a small white envelop. It contained a letter he received about two and a half weeks ago from some mystery person…it was placed at his house about a month ago and whoever wrote to him stated that they wanted to meet at this spot stating that they had information regarding his family more specifically his mother. There was no return address and at the bottom it just was signed with the Letter "Z"_

___To say that the letter was vague to say the least was an understatement and to meet as such a mundane location was rather odd but he hasn't seen either of his parents for almost five years so any information he could get his hands on however small was always worth seeking out. In truth it was the only reason why he remained in one spot for this long rather than continue on his Journey. _

___The lost boy let out a deep sigh as he glances towards the sun. He didn't know how long he has been here but he knew it was a long time sense the sun was now setting and he was waiting at this spot sense mid day. He was known as the Lost boy but he knew this was the location, all the markers were there….a large tree that had fallen over towards the clearing and a single Tree stump right in the middle of it. He had to admit, he probably would have left a long time ago if he didn't take a trip down memory lane. _

___Just when he was about to grab his pack and leave out of frustration is when he felt someone approach him. He turns to match a face up with this sensation; the young man carefully took in the features of the stranger who was coming towards him. _

___He was a tall rather lanky man who stood at least a foot taller and him. He had slightly pale skin with short, deep emerald eyes, and strait silver/white hair that reached just past his ears. He was wearing a _simple black suit with a dark blue shirt underneath, black fingerless gloves, and brown steel-toed shoes. He dons a pair of black trousers held up by a brown belt with a silver belt buckle complete with a long black trench coat and an ever present smile.

To Ryoga this man just reeked of Bad news but there was something about him that just chilled him to his very core, all of instinct were screaming at him to run as fast as his legs could carry him and put that lost curse to good use for once but, he decided to ignore it for now.

"Z, I presume? I am Ryoga Hibiki" He spoke in a polite manner and bowed respectfully towards the taller man. He found it odd that someone who address themselves as a single letter but in the end he figured it didn't matter."I have received your letter."

The man didn't say anything at first just bowed back and let his smile grow wider. "Ah, Mr. Hibiki. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am glad you came."

"Yes you said that you have information regarding my parents?" Ryoga ask with curiousity in his voice.

"Oh yes, your parents are really hard to find, particularly your mother."

This rose Ryoga's curiosity even higher. "What about your mother."

"Well, you see the thing is your mother-"

Right when the man was finishing up the last word Ryoga found himself being sucker punched in the face causing him to fall back and land hard on the ground. The young martial artist was known to take a pounding and keep coming. But, this guy was different he actually rocked to the point where he was seeing stars. But, he manages to recover enough to roll out of the way as Z brought his foot down to stop him.

"Got to say Ryoga I am disappointed. If you were rock by that little attack I would hate to think what you would be like if I actually tried."

Ryoga quickly got to his feet and got into a fighting stance. "That's was an attack? That felt more like a Baby's Punch…."

Z's smile turned into a grin as he gave a mocking expression. "oooo….you wound me. Let's see how long that smugness last. P-Chan?

Ryoga stared at the silver haired man in disbelief. "Wh…what did you call me?"

"I called you P-Chan." The man looked at the Bandana boy with his grin ever present. "What? Did you think that was much a secret? Oh clear a 4 year old could figure you out in a heartbeat. I mean it is absolutely incredible that Tendo chick didn't figure you out…I mean seriously you practically transformed right in front of her more than once and she still hasn't gotten it."

Ryoga growled under his breath clenching his fist so hard they were shaking. The bangs went over his eyes so one couldn't tell the rage that was within them. "How….how do you know about me?"

"Oh Ryoga, Ryoga, Ryoga….We have been watching you for quite some time now. You and the rest of those martial art rejects."

"We?"

"Ah never mind that." Z calmly rubbed his chin as a thought cross his chin. "You know, considering that I am such a nice guy. I am going to go out of my way to help you be with your long lost love one more time. Just before I kill you I am going to transforms you back into that disgusting piglet you transform into. Then I am going cook you, gut you, chop you up and serve you to you lady love. Just think when she eats you...you wall finally be to-"

Z was unable to finish that thought as Ryoga gave him a taste of his own medicine by sucker punching Z in the face while he was on his dialogue. The lanky man rubbed his jaw and groaned in pain. "Oh…OH….THAT was CHEAP!"

Z didn't have time to regain himself as Ryoga was suddenly on him his fists connect with various parts of his mind and his battle aura set ablaze. Ryoga was pissed and nothing was going to stop him from giving his guy a first class ass-beating.

Despite the assault Z however slowly recovered from the attacks and it wasn't long because he was fighting on equal footing with the boy. Ryoga was surprised by the guy ability to recover quickly form his attacks it was like he wasn't even trying to block or dodge.

Even though and the two were now fighting on equal terms when it came to speed, and skill strength was proving to be a different matter. Ryoga quickly caught on that Z was clearly stronger than him.

With that knowledge the lost boy decided to take him out before the fight went on any longer and went to punch at Z's right in his arrogant face but, this place quickly backfired as the mystery man quickly grabbed the lost boy's fist and pulled him closer causing Ryoga to be put off balance. Once he was close enough he proceed to deliver three punches into the side of his ribs and one to the face and ended the combo with an open palm strike to his abdomen causing the air to be knocked out of the young man.

Ryoga moved back a bit and went down on one knee on the ground tried to suck some air into his lung. He watched as the smiling Z was slowly walking towards him. ~_What is with this guy….I hit him with some of my best hand-to-hand moves as he keeps coming. In fact….I don't think I knocked him off his feet once and I hit him with moves that would have been Ranma in the hospital. Damn…he is stronger than lime but has speed behind that power…at this point Ranma would think of a way around his style...come on Ryoga think he is not invincible…in fact his best weapon seem to be counter-attacks….._~ The Bandana wearing boy blinked as he suddenly came up with a plan.

"Well I must admit…you lasted longer than most people would have in a fight against me. But you are your mother's son…" Z calmly waved his hand in a dismissive tone.

"Oh well, enough of that." Z casually crouch down to the Lost boy's level certain that he was finished and it would take just that one more blow to finish him off. "So are you ready to be sweet and sour pork? Because I know my taste buds are ready. SQUEEEEEEE PI-PI-PI-PI-PIGGY!"

Ryoga opened his eyes to look at the hyperactive mad man and gave him a weak but knowing smile. "Sorry….Dinner's cancelled."

"What?"

Ryoga proceeded to strike his index finger at the ground and yelled those famous words. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"

"What the?" Was all Z could muster as the ground suddenly explode right from underneath him sending him flying into the air. Ryoga took the blast and debris in full force and was unaffected by it. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle after all he experienced much worse than that. But it did have the desire affect he wanted. The lost boy didn't waste any time, he knew he had to take this guy out and take him out now.

He quickly got to his feet and jumped up towards the fallen Z…He saw that the man in black was about to get back to his feet and he didn't have a moment to lose. With a sound battle cry he focused all of his remaining ki into his fist and like a torpedo slam directly into his opponent with the sound of a Thunder clap announcing that he had indeed made impact.

After the act of desperation, everything around the surrounding area was quiet. It was as if nature it's self was holding it's breath wondering if Ryoga had manage to prevail over this mysterious figure in black. What seemed like a life time there was suddenly coughing be herd for in the middle of a newly formed crater Ryoga was on his knees and right next to him was the defeated Z.

~_Damn, that took everything I had, but at least it paid off. If I couldn't get past his counter attack then I had to take him by surprise.~_ After a few more Hacks the Bandana boy looked over at Z to get a better look at him. The stranger looked like he had seen better days. He was lying still his hair was ruffled and blood was coming from his lips. He couldn't really tell if the man was breathing or not but at that moment he didn't care, after all this Z was planning on killing him that much was clear, he saw it in his eyes. But the way he talked about his mother…..it was almost like this was a retaliation of some kind, part of Ryoga hoped the man was indeed still alive so he could interrogate him. Of course that means that he would have to take him to Dr. Tofu.

He reached down to check for a pulse when he suddenly felt pressure on his chest, At first this didn't seem to odd to him considering what he just went through but suddenly he could feel the pressure growing in his chest and after a few seconds he felt an intense burning sensation. He finally decided to look at and he saw Z's right hand at his chest, no…it wasn't exactly a hand this was something else. It had the shape of a hand but it was twisted and deformed….the moon that was now high into the air gave it's light to the clearing and Ryoga saw that what was around this hand was not skin….it was scales and those wasn't fingers digging in to his chest….those were claws.

Ryoga reached up and grabbed the scale hand with both of his own hoping to make an effort to pry them. But the moment he grab the scaly arm Ryoga suddenly felt the claws twist in his flesh and he finally realized how deep those claws were for in that one movement he could actually feel those appendages scrape against his ribs.

His strength suddenly left him as his arms fell to the side.

"Very Good Ryoga Hibiki…." Z said in a rather soothing almost fatherly like voice. The young martial artist's eyes suddenly snapped open and looked over to Z who was smiling….it wasn't that crazed lunatic smile he had sense the fight began…but it was that harmless innocent one. The one that gave him shivers to begin with. Just who in the hell was this guy...He couldn't be human it just didn't make any sense.

Z eyes opened for the first time sense he was down and aimed themselves directly at the lost boy. His eyes were now glowing slightly and contained snake-like slits for pupils. With a quick motion Z removed his claws from Ryoga's chest who quickly fell back clutching his chest in a vain attempt to make the pain stop.

"I must admit, you gave me more trouble than I anticipate." Z's words were all but lost to Ryoga as he was trying to regulate his breathing. The lost boy suddenly felt a hand around his neck and in the next moment he was lifted into the air with ease. The grip wasn't tight so he could get some air into his lungs and he also noticed that the grip didn't feel sharp so he must have been using his normal hand but it didn't matter. Normally he would have been able to pry himself away from this loose grip but he was spent, he used all of his power in that last punch not to mention having claws scarping your ribs didn't really help either. About, all Ryoga could do was look at Z and growl at him menacingly and hope the sweat he was producing would drown him somehow.

"Perhaps there is hope for you after all…Ryo. It too bad it is just wasted potential. After all, there were several times you could have truly beaten that transgender freak but it is what you are. You reek of failure, you are DESTINED to fail. YOU lose to a guy whose final attack is just running away like a coward! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM TELLING YOU? Your purpose in life is just to make him look better!" Z actually took in a deep breath considering he became winded with what little rant. He then looked at Ryoga with a very serious look on his person.

"Even though what I am about to do isn't entirely personal this is a bonus because this is actually doing you a favor. I mean just looking at you makes me depressed, but sense you are one of the few to actually knock me down I will make sure to send your corps to your parents so they can morn but I will be keeping the heart after all a guy's gotta eat." The Grin returned to Z as he raised his clawed hand ready to deliver the final blow. He did it nice and slow to make sure Ryoga would be able to see the end coming. "But don't worry; after they cry for you I will kill them too so you all can meet again in the land of the dead."

"No…" Ryoga couldn't even hear what Z was telling him anymore. But he had a feeling on what it meant. It was earlier today that he was excited about finding out information on the whereabouts of his parents and now here he was on the edge of life just a few seconds away from did I spend all that time working, fighting, loving, and hating only to have it end like this. He wasn't ready to lay down and accept death yet.

He has traveled the earth and kept going…..

He has fought won and lost times beyond counting and has kept going…

Shed so many tears and kept going…

Even when his dreams were crushed he has kept going….

Ryoga began to glow that famous emerald color causing Z to give a confused look. The young man looked at Z with a fiery determination he hasn't given to anyone with the expectation of Ranma. He reached out and grabbed Z's coat and with renewed strength forced himself closer to his adversary. He must admit he found amusement in the dumfounded look Z was giving him, he must admit he didn't know where he was getting the strength from but he would be damn if he wasn't going to put it to good use.

Once their faces were mere inches apart Ryoga gave Z a grin of his own. "As long as there is breathe inside of this body….Ryoga Hibiki will always keep going!"

Summon everything he had in his reserved Ryoga gave a sound battle cry and within that moment both combatants were enclosed in the towering Jade force of the Perfect ShishiHokodan and everything was encased within a green light of force and depression. When he heard Z screaming to the heavens Ryoga's gave a light smile and darkness overcame him.

_As long as there is life…..there is purpose_


	2. Chapter 2

4

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ranma ½ in any way shape or form. Sue me and you are just going to get lint.

Note: I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter and scribed to my story. I truly appreciate the support as it motivates me to continue when I hear people comment. Also I know my grammar sucks but I am working on it. I just hope this one was an improvement over the last one and if not well I will get better or die trying damn it. :P Now, on with the story.

* * *

Within in the city of Tokyo Japan, there is a section Nerima is a place that is well known throughout Japan. Not for it's food or tourist attractions, the common folk wasn't exactly interesting, it didn't have the speed and hustle and bustle or crime that a lot of other major cities were known for. In fact for the most part it was a rather peaceful place people from all ages Big and tall, young and old went about their day one step at a time for each one brought with it something new with promises, hopes, and dreams of course there was the potential for disappointment but that was ok because there was also the possibility of new opportunities. There wasn't much crime, people are friendly and polite to each other and it was safe to walk the streets at night…..mostly. Yep Nerima was a place where you could live your life in peace. So what would make a person question why this place stood out above everything else?

Because a group of moronic hyperactive insane teenagers one day decided to come and transforms this once peaceful ward into their own personal playground of demolition and destruction. This group was also known as the Nerima wrecking crew and the one who seemed to be at the center of all the chaos was known as Ranma Saotome. Whenever he went trouble just seemed to follow whether it went up to the Tendon household to challenge him directly or he looked for it himself because his curiosity got the better of him everyone knew if they saw a pigtail get ready because something was going to get trash, brown up, implode, explode, launch into the sky, and everything in between.

One would think that the government would have develop some kind of "Anti Wrecking crew" task form to deal with these punks on pixie sticks but that never happened and the people in the Nerima ward It got to the point where no one was really surprised anymore by the chaos so you can imagine what people would do when they suddenly saw a young man wearing blue pants with a red Chinese shirt with his hair consisting of a pig tail flowing through the air behind him chasing a hefty middle age man wearing a white gi and a bandana covering his entire head. The older man seemed to be holding something high in the air to keep it out of harm's way. Both were plowing through the crowd of innocent bystanders and while some who were directly caught in their path tried to get out of harm's way, something like this was actually normal.

"Get back here with my pork bun old man!"

Yep, normal.

"Foolish boy!" The hefty man shouted as he just managed to dodge the younger man's attack but jumping to a nearby roof. "This is pork bun represents more than you realize"

"What are you talking about pops?" Ranma cried out in annoyance as he followed Genma to the roofs. He couldn't wait to hear this one.

"You see Ranma, what you fail to notice is that by taking this bun away from you I am actually protecting you."

Ranma just gave his father a disbelieving look. "Uh huh…..and how do you figure that…"

Genma motioned to the pork bun in his hand, which he was holding like it was one of the most valuable treasures on in this place. "Ranma, while you grown into a fine young man and proven yourself to be a competent fighter, I have noticed that that sense we arrived here in Nerima your battle senses have become weaken from the happy home life. Countless time I have watched as your fiancées and enemies alike have gotten the drop on you with tricks and traps…such underhanded tactics that you should have seen coming a mile away."

Ranma's eyes narrowed "is that right?"

"That is right, after all isn't it a father's duty to protect his son whenever he can from such trickery?"

"Oh, you mean like what you are doing now?"

Genma blinked and coughed trying to shift the blame to him. "Anyway, while Kasumi placed the pork buns on the table I came to the realization that this might be another ploy in order to slip some kind of poison to you. As your mentor and father I cannot in good conscious let you fall for such a trap and if I have to eat this last pork bun so that it may very well save your life then it is a risk I am willing to take."

Ranma's eyes soften as he looked at his father gratefully. "Wow pop I didn't know you cared that much."

"Really?"

"NO! Get out of here!" Genma was suddenly sent flying through the fair after receiving an uppercut from his son.

"Ahhhhh, I'll get you for this boooooyyyyyy!"

A smirk grew on Ranma's face as he twirled HIS pork bun on his index finger. "Sorry pops, it's a young man's world." With the prize he earned he plopped it into his mouth before jumping down and casually began his walk back to the Tendo household.

Even though what Genma was ranting about earlier was mostly just rambling to his ears there was something about that speech that had the Pig-tailed martial artist thinking. Ever sense he defeated Saffron things have calmed down. Oh sure, there was the occasional ploy by Kodachi to claim him as her own or Moose trying to set him up for one of his traps and such but for the most part things have been moving towards the concept of being normal. Not that Ranma was complaining too much about it after all it was nice to have a break from the craziness that he normally attracts but after a while one gets use to it now things seemed rather boring.

On the rare occasions when things was this bland he would run into Ryoga who would try out a new move in an attempt to defeat him or presents Akane with gifts in hopes to win her affections either way it always led to something exciting. The lost boy always brought some excitement right when he really needed it.

_~I wonder how Ryoga doing. Haven't seen him for months now.~ _Ranma thought as he continued moving through the rooftops. As he was finshing the last of his pork bun he could see the Tendon house in sight, he found something else that caught his eye. He saw someone hunched over wearing that clothing combination of yellow shirt and green pants while dragging a familiar Tan travel pack with the trademark red umbrella on top. _~Ah look what the pig dragged in. Knew he wouldn't let me down.~_

Ranma smirked as he crouched down watching the lost boy, his mind going through all the different ways he could coxed Bandana boy into a fight. It has been so long sense he had a real challenge that he feared that his skills might be getting rusty. Once he decided on an approach he stood up and prepared to "greet" his friend/rival but he stopped himself as he saw Ryoga stumbled almost to the point of falling but manage to catch himself at the last moment.

"What the…" Ranma blinked. It was at that moment that Ranma actually took the time to actually look at the condition of Ryoga. At first he figured he was tired from being lost for so long but he finally noticed that the lost boy was actually dragging his traveling pack….he never dragged it around. Even if he was at the point of collapsing after a trip he still carried it on his back.

_~What the hell happened to him?.~ _Concern went through Ranma's mind as he finally jump forward and landed on a nearby fence and skillful balanced himself out as he jogged towards his friend/rival. When he felt he was close enough behind him he jumped down off the fence. "Hey Ryoga how's it hanging man."

Ranma's concern for the lost boy seem to grow as he finally saw his condition up close. It was true that the Lost boy seen better days but this was a whole new level. He not only looked beaten but broken his clothing was dirtied and scuffed, his hair looked like it isn't even seen a comb in years…which always seemed to be the case but it was all over the place not just growing over the Bandana but, the most prominent thing was Ryoga's aura of depression….he was lit up like a Christmas Tree.

The Pig-tailed martial artist watched as Ryoga continued to hunch backed down the street was barley dragging his pack behind him. It was obvious that Ryoga did hear him the first time and giving his condition it was probably a good idea to think of a positive and subtle way to gain his rival's attention.

"Hey P-Chan, Man you looked like you got the bacon kicked out of ya." Of course Ranma wouldn't know the concept if it was tattooed on his Retina. He did however, get the desired effect as he watched the Lost Boy stop in his tracks only to slowly turn and face him. The Saotome heir gave Ryoga a friendly smile which was quickly retracted when he heard his rival growl.

"no…"

Ranma blinked as he looked at him. Seeing Ryoga's face for the first time he could see some bruises around his cheeks and chin the bangs of hair that went over his Bandana were lower enough to cover his eyes but he could see some tear stains on his cheeks as well but the main thing that caught Ranma's eye was his friend's chest…he saw him clutching it with his right hand and around the area he was holding instead of the usual yellow he on the crimson mass that could only be blood. "….R….Ryoga….you-"

"NO NO NO NO NO" Ryoga interrupted with fierce intensity. "WHY ARE YOU HERE? YOU WERE GONE? I DEAFTED YOU!"

Ranma's face went from concern to confusion over the certain outburst. "Ryoga, what are you talking about?" Ranma didn't have time to continue his thought as he suddenly found himself dodging the lost boy's fist. He defiantly has gotten faster since they last met he was barley was able to avoid that attack.

"NO…NO YOU WERE GONE! I WONT LET YOU HURT MY FAMILY! I WILL DIE BEFORE I LET THAT HAPPEN!"

Ryoga continued on with his assault and the longer he kept going the faster he seemed to get. It was getting to the point where Ranma actually had to block at Kick that was aimed for his head. As felt the impact on an arm he felt a strange sensation suddenly wash over him followed by some kind of pulse. He wince when he felt it…every time he blocked Ryoga's attack he could feel that strange sensation it was like something was tugging at his insides, he couldn't quite explain it.

Ranma knew Ryoga wasn't thinking strait and he really wanted to avoid attacking him, that bloodstain on his chest told a story that he knew that he wouldn't be able to talk one of his attack…hell he doubt he could take one of Kuno's swings at this point. "Ryoga! I am not who you think I am. It is me Ranma!"

At first it didn't seem that the bandana boy hear him as he sent another punch towards his face, but as Ranma quickly blocked it he saw that there was no follow up like normal…instead Ryoga seemed to slump forward about to fall in which case the Pig-tailed martial artist quickly caught him.

"R…..Ranma?..."

Ranma looked at the lost boy and for the first time sense this all started he could see his eyes and found that they were on the verge of tears, it was enough to send chills down to his very core. "Yeah Ryoga….it's me."

Suddenly, Ryoga was unconscious as if trusting his well being into his rival. To say that Ranma was worried now would be a great understatement. Sure, Ryoga had attacked him in the past but when he did he always knew that it was Ranma who he was attacking. This time the fanged boy thought he was someone else entirely, someone that threatened his family? Then there was that strange feeling he got whenever he and Ryoga made contact in that little scuffle. It wasn't strong enough to actually affect him just strong enough to let him know that it was there. Not entirely convinced the worst was over Ranma thought about something as he calmly reached up and felt his rival's forehead underneath the bandana.

~_Damn he is burning up like a Furnace. No wonder he was delusional.~_ Normally Ranma would have taken Ryoga over to Dr. Tofu but he was out of town and wouldn't be back for a few days. Deciding on the next best thing he quickly picked up Ryoga up and placed him over his right shoulder and took his traveling pack with his left hand and quickly headed to the Tendon Dojo. ~_Hang on Ryoga_.~

* * *

"Hiyah!"

Akane gave a satisfying smirk as she manages to break another set of bricks. Being in the dojo while practicing her family's martial art always helped her clear her mind after a hard day, or when Ranma decides to act like a jerk or today when she just needed some time alone to sort things out specifically the future and where were life was going.

It has been months sense the Saffron incident but she keeps going back to it, not really what happened during the whole ordeal really after all weird things just happened around Nerima, it was what was going to happen that gotten her thinking really, the wedding that almost came to be.

Oh she cared for Ranma deeply and she knew he cared for her even though they didn't actually admit it very often, it was through actions in which they express their feelings for each other even though he still manage to get on her nerves, but that was ok after all maybe other girls wanted a perfect guy but that would just be too boring for her, but was she really ready to get married at this stage in her life, technically she was still a teenager she really hasn't truly lived life yet she was going to get married. She would never admit to anyone but she was partly thankful for what happened because now both Ranma and she could take some time to live and grow before the commitment of marriage.

As the youngest Tendon set up another rack of bricks to break, she felt a nagging feeling in the back of her head. Throughout the past few days things just seemed a bit too quiet really, throughout her life if there was always one constant it was this. Nerima = Chaos. Ever sense Ranma first arrived at her home it increased with him but it didn't start with him. There was always something around the corner, whether it was another fiancé, challenge, misunderstanding that escalades in all out war in some form or another, but these last few months have been rather peaceful and that was worrying. They always talk about the calm before the storm; she just hoped that it was just the calm without any of the negative effect that follows.

"Yaaaah!" With a Strike of her hand, she managed to split apart another set of bricks or so she thought. She looked down and found that there was one last Brick that refused to break despite her effort. She found this perplexing because she would never try to break more than she could handle and the amount of bricks that were set up was always a number she could do with ease. Perhaps this was a sign, a bad omen of things to come…or it could just be the face that she exceeded her limit for the day. Might as well considering that Ranma should be back from chasing his father from all over town because of that Pork bun.

"Honestly…" With a sign she calmly cleaned up the mess, draped a towel over her shoulders and left the dojo with her workout done of the day. As she was passing through the backyard in order to go inside she noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye and saw Ranma jumping down into the back yard. It took her a moment to realize that he had something over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and on closer inspection… "Ranma….is that…..Ryoga?"

She watched Ranma's expression as he quickly moved towards the back door.

"Ryoga needs help, find Kasumi quickly."

Akane blinked for a moment absolutely stunned. She only caught a glimpse of him but he looked just terrible. "But…what happened to him?"

"I don't know." Ranma quickly retorted. "Just get Kasumi, I am going to set him up in the room pops and I sleep."

Akane nodded as she went inside right behind Ranma and watched him as he dragged their friend to the upstairs. ~_I knew it couldn't last long Nermia must be the chaos center of the Universe.~ _

* * *

Ryoga was placed in the room where Ranma and Genma used to sleep. It was a fairly decent size so it wasn't really any trouble on where to place him. It wasn't long after the pig-tailed martial artist got out Ryoga's Sleeping back for him to lie on that Akane came in with Kasumi right behind her with some first aid and some water.

After Ranma placed Ryoga on his sleeping bag he quickly got out of the way so that the eldest could work. Ranma watched silently leaning against the wall with his arms folded finding himself quite impressed on how Kasumi took charged in carrying for the lost boy. He was a bit embarrassed to admit it but he realized that he didn't know that much about her. ~Hum, I suppose it makes sense, after all she basically had to take care of the family since their mother died. It is only logical to learn some first aid.~

"Ranma…..could you help me remove Ryoga's shirt please?"

Ranma jerked out of his thoughts as he looked at Kasumi's motherly smile and nodded. It was just so hard to resist Kasumi when she requested something like that while Akane has her own charms it sure wouldn't kill her to learn some of that class.

He carefully removed Ryoga's shirt making sure not to interrupt the work Kasumi has done so far. Once he was finished removing the article of clothing he placed it aside to look at his fallen friend and what he saw turned his blood white.

"H-How could…"

"Oh my….."

The Flesh in Ryoga's chest at first glanced looked like it went through some kind of meat grinder. There were five huge holes around the middle of his chest but it wasn't perfect holes as they seemed to arch in a counter-clockwise motion. It was like someone stuck a knife in him for each initial hole and while the knife was still there began to carve into him. As he continued to looked at the injury and saw that in the center of it almost seemed like it was caved in. The martial artist found it odd at first but on closer inspection he found that it wasn't just a whole…..it was in fact a handprint. It looked like someone was trying to carve and then rip a hole right into his chest.

It took Ranma few moments to pry himself away from the sight looking over at both Akane and Kasumi whose eyes were wide as dinner plates. Kasumi looked down at the lost boy with both surprise and sympathy with her fingers just over her lips and Akane actually had to turn away and in truth he honestly couldn't blame either of them, hell he wanted to turn away himself but knew he had to be strong for both of them. But, it was clear now, it wasn't over excursion or anything like that, someone actually did this to him. It was enough to send shiver down the spine of the heir to the Saotome School. The only consolation he took was the fact that the wound did seemed to be healing but that didn't make the reality any less gruesome, the fact that someone was actually capable of doing this to Ryoga the walking tank who just laughed at even some of Ranma's best attack was nothing else than earth shattering.

He took in a need breath and calmly reached over and placed both his hands on each of the Tendo's girls letting them both know that he was here to get them through this. It seemed to do the trick as Kasumi gave a weak smile and continued her work to help Ryoga while Akane looked at Ranma with thankful eyes before looking back at her good friend.

"Poor Ryoga" Akane said looking on with worry in her eyes.

~_Ryoga.~_ Ranma thought to himself as Kasumi was finishing up and began to wrap bandages around the lost boy's torso as he held him up to make it easier for her. ~_What have you gotten yourself into now? _~

* * *

Somewhere within the confines of Nermia a teenager was sitting within the cold damp recess of a dark basement with his only source of light being two lighted candles tied to his head and various places around the area. He was wearing the Furinkan high school boy's uniform. His skin was very pale and the sleep crust from under his eyes seems to say that he never did get a good night rest. If a person was to walk by him they would think he looked like the walking dead. He was never very popular in fact most people didn't even know that he exist, but that was alright because the object of his obsession was all the proof he needed to know that he did indeed exist. This young man's name was Hikaru Gosunkugi

"Oh Akane, all my effects to claim your heart and still you go to that vile Ranma Saotome." Gosunkugi calmly stood up and moved towards a table which he used to step up a shrine to his heart's desire complete with various pictures of Akane doing various states of activity, jogging, with friends, laughing, screaming at Ranma which was one he particularly enjoyed and thanks to her older sister Nabiki even got a couple of her in a karate gi practicing her martial art. Next to each picture there was at least one candle in place for him so that he could see each photo properly.

His eyes fell to the middle of the shrine and there was a crudely made-up doll of Akane. With delicate hands he gently scooped it up so that he could look at it closer. Imagining the doll looked like the real Akane his eyes began to show a quiet sadness. "Oh merciful gods, Akane Tendon is the only one who ever cared enough to pay attention to me. Is there no way for me to win her love?"

The troubled youth looked at the doll with mild surprise as it began to glow red and getting warmer. His eyes lit up and game a weak smile as it seemed that this was a sign that the gods have finally answered his prayer, if he was receiving help from a higher power then there was no was that he could lose.

"AHHHH!" That is until the doll suddenly burst into flames.

Gosunkugi moved back as the flaming doll that was now on the ground was standing up on it's own and walked towards him was cackling at him…it almost sounded like it was pointing and laughing at him, after about three steps the doll finally became nothing more than ash.

The malnourished teen was breathing in order to calm his heart. He has seen some weird things in Nerima but with the exception of involving Ranma nothing really happened to him directly. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that this was bad really bad. Evil was in Nermia and Akane is going to be caught right in the middle of it.

"This is bad…..This is very bad…"

* * *

Kasumi was downstairs humming to herself as he put away the first aid and began work on cleaning up the kitchen, it always help her focus on her current task if she brought a tune to her ears. She needed to do something to get her mind off that horrible sight she saw upon Ryoga's chest. Even though she had witness some of the chaos that surrounded her family first hand she never has seen anything so malicious before. Even when she was finished tending to Ryoga Akane and Ranma wanted to stay with Ryoga and she honestly couldn't blame them.

"A terrible shame what happened to that young man. Will he be alright?"

"He is running a slight fever but hopefully he should recover soon." She could hear her father talking over her humming and he temporally manage gain her attention from cleaning the dinner table. "It was truly awful father. It looked like he was attack by a vicious animal."

The eldest of the Tendon girls watched as her father calmly lowered the daily newspaper he was reading. "Yes it is odd. Ryoga spends a lot of time in the wilderness and other various places but the boy is as tough as they come…" Before Kasumi could say anything else both of them heard a knock on the door.

"Kasumi, would you please see who that is." Tendon asked politely as he went back to reading his paper. "Must be Saotome returning from that little stint with Ranma."

"Of course father." Kasumi gave a light smile before he stood up and went towards the door. While it was true that Genma did have keys to the house, it was hard to work the lock when you were a ten-foot tall panda with no fingers and just claws. As she unlocked and opened the door she was a little taken back that it wasn't in fact Genma in his panda form but she made sure she didn't show it. As she took in this person's features a friendly smile grew on her person. "Oh, Hello sir, may I help you?"

Standing at the door was a tall man slightly pale skin. He was wearing a black suit with a blue shirt with a black tie and black trousers and over the clothing was a black trench coat. One of his of his hands was in his pants pocket and his other hand was placed upon a black fedora hat as if keeping it from being taken away by the air.

"Why yes,"

He began as he removed his hat from his head and calmly held it against his chest. Kasumi saw his face fully for the first time, his neatly strait silver white hair, his deep emerald eyes and a gentle smile. The young woman felt herself blush from the sight of his full presence.

"Does a Ranma Saotome live here?"

* * *

Well that's it for the second chapter the third one should be up by the end of the week. Hope you all are enjoying this story so far and remember reviews and comments are always welcomed. Just please be gentle ;)

- Xul


	3. Chapter 3

9

Note: Hey hey everyone, guess who is back with another chapter at week's end as I said. Once again thank you for everyone who gave me reviews and have showed support by giving my story chance especially those who gave it an alert and those who added this to their favorites list already. It makes me giddy and warm inside it really does. Hope you like this one…but enough talk, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ranma ½ in any way shape or form anything else that isn't part of the Manga or Anime is quite mine.

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The Chinese restaurant known as the Nekohanten is quite the popular place within the Tokyo district of Nerima. Whether it was someone coming in after a hard day's work, perhaps a cute young couple who wanted to spend some time together away from the eyes of their peers and parents alike, or maybe it was someone who was just plain hungry and hasn't eaten all day . Whatever the reason a person has to coming into the establishment it is known as a place where the locals could sit back and relax and enjoy themselves.

The place has an interesting combination of good food and entertainment to some degree that made it a mainstay in the community. When it came to food, there were many dishes on the menu Sweet & Sour Pork, fried dumplings but the one thing that the place was known for was it's various noodle dishes and in this regard, Ramen reign supreme. Of course when the place first opened there were a lot of Japanese people who questioned if people from China could make Ramen proper but their disbelief were quickly squashed once they partaken of the fine cuisine.

As far as entertainment went it wasn't really in the traditional sense really. No, the restaurant it's self didn't provide entertainment. No guy on a piano playing or Karaoke. It was more along the lines that entertainment just happened around there. For most of the male population it was seeing that sexy hot blue hair waitress, of course this was rather a double edge sword to them really because she normally would make the deliveries and that meant that they had to deal with that shriveled up old prune she called grandmother or that young Chinese boy who by his constant habit of mistaking customers with other people was deemed to be in serious need of some laser eye surgery. This lead to a good portion of the teenage male populous to order out from the Nekohanten instead of dinning in, but once again that double edge came into play because you would either have the fine looking young girl to deliver your food or a white duck wearing glasses with the latter being confusing or fascinating the customers.

The primary source of 'entertainment' was actually the martial art fights and chaos that would erupt around and within the building. It was almost like actually being at a martial arts movie instead of just watching one on TV. The place has been considered by the local residents to be an extension of the chaos; a "hot spot" if you will, because of this the Nekohanten has become sort of a mild tourist attraction in Nerima.

Of course there was a reason for it being an extension to the chaos, the place actually served as a base of operations to the Chinese amazons in their efforts to get the martial artist Ranma to marry Shampoo and bring him back to the tribe or in the case of the only male resident of the Nekohanten, defeat Ranma and have Shampoo to himself. The ancient woman realizing that the young heir to the Saotome style was going to be more stubborn as a mule they were going to need financial support and the fact that it was place not too far from the Tendo household which was pretty much the very core of the chaos also helped in that fact.

From the time of day it was the dinner rush and people who worked in the restaurant business know that around this time of day was arguably the busiest time. People would come in by the dozens waiting to be seated so that they could feed their bellies with the good food that the restaurant of their choice provided for them. However, the Nekohanten wasn't going through the dinner rush, as a matter of fact there weren't any customers there at all for the evening. The reason for this wasn't because that the food was suddenly terrible that day, it was because that they closed earlier for today.

The Chinese Amazon Elder known as Cologne was in the middle of the empty restaurant standing on a table. Her arms were folded upon her chest as the tip of her trademark gnarled wooden staff wedged in her arms. She didn't like closing the restaurant early for any reason, after all, every hour that they were closed when they were supposed to be opened was lost business and that was money lost to competition, but then again there was just some things more important that money.

Anyone who knows the elder woman knows that she is perhaps the personification of calm, no matter what normally happens within Nerima it is very rare for her to be genuinely surprised, angered, sadend, etc. This only makes sense considering that she us a master in the martial art technique: The Hiryu Shoten Ha which requires a soul of ice. There were rare moments where she would be caught by surprise, hell, most of the time she was quite entertained over the chaos that surrounded Ranma but now because of what happened earlier she felt she had to close up restaurant for the day.

She sent Shampoo to make the last of the schedule deliveries and refused to take any more take-out was just no way that she could concentrate on making the various dishes that the Nekohanten was known for. Hell, at this moment in time she wanted to just jump out of her skin and scream to the Heavens. No, she didn't need any kind of distraction right now. She didn't need to deal with outsiders right now. What she needed was space, she needed the quiet; she needed stillness so that she could concentrate on her thoughts on the current situation. What she needed to do is weigh her current options carefully and decide the best course of action.

There was a foulness in the air and she didn't like it one bit. How could things change so drastically over a short period of time over the course of one single conversation?

(Flashback: Earlier that evening)

_Cologne was standing on top of the stove currently making a batch of fried noodles. It was proving to be a rather busy day for the Nekohanten, while there normally would be groups of customers that would roll in during the various times of day where meals would normally be eaten, lunch, dinner, etc. This time there was a steady stream of customers wanting to be served, why? She didn't know but as long as they paid for their meals she really didn't care either._

_Once she was finished with the latest batch she heard the kitchen door open and in came a young Chinese boy. He had long raven hair that went past his shoulders, wearing the male version of a white Mandarin Collar Cheongsam along with ocean blue pants with a red lining cloth around his waist. His most distinguishing feature was the fact that he was wearing a large round extremely thick pair of glasses._

_"Here are the latest orders, old monkey."_

_Cologne proceeded to give Mousse a whack on her wooden staff. She didn't say anything or even looked in his direction to do it. It was easy enough to hit the blind idiot when the mood suits her but she did find some amusement when she heard him grumble to himself as he picked himself up off the floor, she was tempted to do it again just for good measure. "Is Shampoo back from her deliveries yet?" She asked calmly still not looking at him._

_"No not yet." Mousse grumbled as he rubbed his head in an attempt to ease the pain._

_It only makes sense. Considering the steady stream of customers added to the fact that it was indeed the lunch hour her granddaughter most likely won't be back for a while still. The Nekohanten has indeed become even more popular lately it was a good thing she foresaw this and hired part time help._

_"There was however a request to see you."_

_This manages to poke at Cologne's curiosity for a bit as she gave the Chinese youth a sideways glance. "Oh? Has Son-in-law finally come to his senses?"_

_The elder watch as Mousse scoffed._

_"Not if he knows what's good for him." Mousse said more to himself than to her. Then he looked at her directly "No, I haven't this person before. He was a guy dressed in black with a fedora hat sitting at table 5. I know he isn't from our tribe and looks rather young and he asked for you specifically and not Shampoo like most of the men his age would, which begs the question, how would he know you? I mean anyone who is on a first name basis with you are either family or are mysterious mummies like you and I doubt-"_

_Mousse was unable to finish that thought as he found himself on the floor once again courtesy of the Elder's Staff. She sighed over Mousse's disrespect and pointed her staff in a non-threatening manner to one of the part-time help and told her to continue cooking the meals while she address her mysterious visitor._

_Using her staff like it was a pogo stick she began hopping toward the main area of the restaurant, she made sure to hop on Mousse's back as continued punishment. Her wrinkled face gave a satisfying smirk as she heard the boy scream and she proceeded onward._

_She continued to hop towards table five and quickly saw the person that Mousse described. From, what she could tell he was a tall slender man who was wearing a cotton dark blue shirt and tie, behind him was a black trench coat that was placed neatly on the chair, his gloved hands was calmly clasp together on top of the table as if waiting patiently and of course last but not least was that hat that he was still wearing, it was strange that he was still wearing it considering he was in doors and he already took off his coat but it was just a minor thing._

_Once she arrived at the table she could feel something odd coming from this person. The closer she got the more she felt something like fingers crawling up and down her spine and this nagging sense of familiarity. Well, whatever the case may be, she knew that she had to be careful around this person. "Hello young man, I believed you wanted to see me?"_

_The person didn't say anything at first instead he seemed to be deep in thought like he was in his own little dream world. Even though she couldn't see his face because of his hat she could practically feel him smile and then what followed was a light chuckle. "Is something amusing? Look I am a very busy person and don't like to have my time wasted so if you have business with me directly then say it otherwise I suggest you order something then leave."_

_After a few moments the mysterious figure stops chuckling. "I must say…the years have not been kind to you…" the spoke in a smooth voice._

_Cologne's eyes slowly widen with horror, even more so than usual as she heard that voice. That voice sent shivers throughout her elderly body. That voice, that voice that was polite and smooth but had a maniacal edge to it oh she knew that voice very well but it couldn't be…it has been so long since…._

_"You know, I am kind of hurt that you didn't even recognize me, but that's alright after all, it has been long time hasn't it?" The man finally raised his face up so that Cologne could see his face, He opened his eyes to reveal those same damn glowing emerald snake like orbs that she was all too familiar with. "…Cologne….."_

_"You….." The elderly woman said venomously as she quickly got off her staff and landed on top of the table. She held her wooden tool ready to send this man to oblivion where he belonged. Her battle aura was about to set the entire restaurant ablaze. Of course normal people would be screaming and running out in the streets however, with this being Nerima the people figured they were about to see some of that 'oh so famous entertainment', so they just looked on while enjoying their meals._

_"Ah ah…." The silver haired man began as he calmly raised a hand. "Now now, there is no need to get all angry now. Besides judging from the energy you are building up, this must be an attack meant to do me in and then some but how will you explain to the village if your beloved customers get hurt in the process."_

_Cologne snapped out of her rage for a moment to take the time to look around the restaurant. She saw the people there looking at them not as if they were frightened but like they were watching a TV-show wondering what was going to happen next. With a curse under her breath she glared at the man before her as she let her battle aura die down. She could hear the disappointments throughout their restaurant as they watch that scene that promised some of that chaos that Nerima was known form fade away into nothing, but their entertainment was of no concern to her. She was focused completely on this male before her._

_She could feel the anger rise within her as she took in his features, she saw the already arrogant smirk on this man's person grow into a sly grin. The leaders of the Joketsuzokuseriously frowned upon harming/killing an innocent also being one of the leaders herself she would have been more stigmatized if she went through with her attack and this man knew it._

_"Great, now that we gotten that out of your system, Perhaps now we can have a more civil conversation."_

_Every word that the man spoke was like having an ice pick shoved down her ear. Just being in the same country as him made her want to blow it up just to make sure that he wouldn't survive it. "Why are you here?" She said in a quiet but vicious tone._

_She saw that the sly grin on the man's face now lowered it's self into a small smile._

_"Oh such cold cold hatred, and after being separated for so long. I was hoping for a warmer welcome than that. After all, how long has it been? A century? Two?"_

_Cologne's eyes narrowed. "A thousand years can go by and it would still be too soon before I saw you again. Now, do not seek to test me snake, How did you manage to break your seal?"_

_"My, you are terribly upset. What could I have possibly done to warrant such hatred?"_

_"You took my little brother, snake."_

_"Hey, it was a Tuesday." The man shrugged._

_"Do not mock me creature!"_

_"Awww, you still remember your old pet name for me. I am truly touched…..really I am." Cologne watched as he once again gave a light chuckle before continuing. It vexed her greatly that he found such amusement in this. "How did I break my seal?….What else could it be? I am just that awesome."_

_Cologne growled under her breath as he listened to his laugh. "Do I look like I am playing games snake?"_

_"Okay, how about this one? I am out on good behavior…" He finished laughing but not losing that arrogant smile. "I figured it was time off from watching you and the rest of that pathetic tribe living your lives, talking, learning, training, fighting, breeding…." The mysterious figure gave a light cringe at that last part. "Ugh….people shouldn't be allowed to have kids, where is the glory of ethnic cleansing when you need it?"_

_Cologne was about to lose the last of her patience. It was obvious that he wasn't going to tell her how he escaped but one thing was clear to her. There was no way he could have done it on his own. She forged the seal herself she along with the rest of the elders, he must've had help but that was a mystery that was going to have to be solved in time but with him in Nerima she had to wonder exactly how much time was left. "Alright then, let's go back to my first question. Why are you here in Nerima?"_

_She found that he didn't answer her right away instead he seemed to relax even more in her presence going so far as to sit back in his chair clasping his hands together and resting them on his chest, his head was lowered with the hat covering the upper half of his face but that smile was ever-present to her eyes._

_"Well isn't it some unspoken rule that if you are going to be working in someone else's backyard that it is common courtesy to let them know?"_

_Cologne was clearly not amused by the answer. "For as long as I have known you Snake, you are one of the last beings on this planet that would ever let formalities come into play unless it suits your purpose."_

_"Am I that transparent?" The man laughed as he finally took off his hat to reveal his surprisingly well-kept silver hair._

_Cologne didn't respond and just watched him carefully as he raised himself and leaned forwards placing his elbows on the table with his hands still clasp together before him. The grin was still there but his eyes were now more focused than before, even his voice seemed to take on a deeper tone._

_"While it is true, I do have certain…..tendencies that you find questionable but I figured hey, after all we been through I'll be a nice guy this time around." The grin that was placed on that man's face lowered to a light smile. "By the way, give up on Ranma Saotome."_

_That simple little line was enough to put a shocking expression on the elder's face. While it was true that Ranma was usually the cause of the trouble here in Nerima, she was curious to know what he wanted with her son-in-law. "What do you mean, give up on son-in-law?"_

_"Exactly what it sounds like old woman. You can start by no longer addressing him as your son-in-law. The guy is a lost cause I mean seriously he almost married that Tendo girl surely you have gotten the hint off of that? He wants better things in life, I mean sure that great great great granddaughter of your is quite a showpiece but the pro doesn't out weight the cons of that future. Especially when you mix it in to being tied down to that dying tribe you have up in China. He would be doing nothing but letting that talent go to waste."_

_The once shocked expression that Cologne gave off was now back to distain when he heard her "guest" talking. "What exactly are your planning snake?"_

_The man raised his eyebrow in a rather curious manner. It was the typed of expression that said: 'are you serious?' but it was clear that she was quite serious the man suddenly began laughing…it wasn't loud enough to draw attention but it was enough to cause the Amazon clutch her staff in anger._

_"Wow Cologne. I knew you were slipping but I didn't think it was this bad. "_

_Cologne was on the verge of attacking him. She had just about all she could stand from this….this THING and she wasn't about to take another second more._

_"That's what I love about you Cologne." The man's grin returned as he watched the elder with amusement in his eyes. "Did it ever occur to you that you are not getting the answers you are seeking because you are asking the wrong questions?"_

_That got Cologne's attention. "What do you mean?"_

_The expression of the man that Cologne called snake changed to a completely serious one. Those piercing green eyes were more enough to bring back those same shivers down her spine once again._

_"What do I mean?….perhaps you will catch on faster if help you rephrased your earlier question."_

_Cologne didn't say anything but instead just waited for the man to continue on._

_"One question you ask me: 'How did I break my seal?' Maybe instead of asking me that maybe you need to ask yourself a more important question like. 'How long has my seal been broken?'"_

_The man paused so that Cologne could process what he just said. Now that she thought about it that was the better question to ask especially considering that she would have received notice from the village if his seal was broken. Her eyes widen as she looked at him with a realization. Seeing this the smirk on the snake's face slowly made it's self known._

_"Now let me help you with another reiteration. Instead of asking 'Why I am in Nerima?' perhaps you should be asking. 'How long I have been in Nerima?'"_

_Once again there was silence as Cologne processed those words in her mind. She could feel the sweat begining to form on her forehead from thinking about the possible answer to that question._

_"You know I have to say that I am very disappointed in you Ghoul. There was a time I would never have been able to have get this close. I mean all this time that I have been watching you carry on about that stupid kiss of death and marriage law. Trying to get that transgender freak to marry that girl of yours, even helping him trying to find a cure._

_You even go so far as to teach him and that lost piglet a few of your techniques to make them stronger and for what? Because you felt you could benefit from it? Just how stupid are you? You are trying to get him to submit instead you help make him stronger than ever. Are you out of what's left of your feeble mind? You BREAK the enemy, you don't help them but that's what you've been doing and what do you have to show for it?"_

_Cologne listened to the words that he spoke and while it was true that his words hit closer to home than she would dare admit, that her effects to get Ranma to marry her Shampoo have proven difficult in the long run there was something else that she was focused on and as she looked at him, she saw that the smile was now growing into a grin and it wasn't the playful one he was giving earlier. She realized that he knew exactly what she was thinking._

_"Oh that's right Elder. I have been in this place for quite some time now and you didn't even know it. You know, there were a couple of times were I thought you genuinely found me out but each time was quickly squashed. You know the things I could have done to you and the rest of that so-called 'Nerima wrecking crew' before you even realized what was going on?_

_You have gotten Soft, Cologne. It got to the point where I had to literally walk through your front door before you even knew I was here."_

_Those cold hard words hit her pride harder than anything physical damage ever could. He was right and she knew it. It seemed that he came in just for the sole purpose to mock her but that wasn't it at least not entirely._

_"Oh, will you look at the time. I have to make sure my package has been delivered." The silver haired man spoke, now with that playful arrogance he had before. He calmly picked up his hat and placed it on his head as he stood up and then proceed to collect his coat from the chair. "I am sure we will be seeing each other again real soon in the near future."_

_As the mysterious man took just a couple of steps towards the door he found his path block by the wooden staff that Cologne is always seen with. The larger round end pressed against his chest and as he looked down he saw that the old woman with a determined look stopping him. He gave out a dark laugh finding amusement at her attempt. "You diluted ghoul."_

_"You are not leaving here. By my ancestors, I sealed you away once and so help me I will do it again…" Cologne spoke quite a quiet intensity that no one in this ward has ever witness from her before._

_"Oh how quickly we forget."_

_The pale skin man lowered his head as he let out a low chuckle. He slowly raised his head and shot opened his eyes revealing those now glowing green orbs. The elder of the amazons was shocked as she suddenly was covered in a faint green light unable to move. "w…..w…..w…"_

_"W..w…wha…What? …you mean what?" The man grinned mockingly at her as he removed the staff that was pressed against his chest and he suddenly crouch down to get a closer look at his victim."You see that last time you defeated me you had help. What do you have now? A bunch of teenagers who are too stupid to know their own limitations?"_

_All Cologne could do was glare at him while being trapped helpless by this creature. Of course no one would help her, at least no one who wasn't a martial artist, the people there wanted to just observe the chaos not be part of it._

_"Oh, you truly don't have a clue do you? While you were living the cozy life here, trying to get that transsexual to agree to be your son-in-law and help produce a bunch of Chinese speaking rug-rats, an entire world was still continuing on without you and what's the one constant in the world?"_

_The guy placed a hand upon his ear so that he could hear the answer but all he got was just an angry growl and some grunts as she tried in vain to break free of his little paralyzing technique. He laughed from the response and decided to move in closer and with little whisper in her ear answered the question._

_"Change."_

_With that being said he stood up strait, taking a little time to fix his clothes he proceeded to leave the restaurant while putting on his coat. Once the door closed behind him Cologne found that she could move again._

_She took the time to take a few breaths in order to collect herself and get some air into her lungs. Being paralyzed was a horrible thing, unable to talk, move, and sometimes if it was severe enough, think or even breathe. Once she found herself calming down, she took up her staff in her hands._

_"Oh Granny, are you alright."_

_Cologne's eyes narrowed as she turned around to find Mousse standing behind her with large curious eyes. "And just where were you during all of this?"_

_"Oh..uh….me? I was….uh..doing the dishes. Lots and lots of dishes."_

_The Amazon elder looked at the young man with various emotions running through her being. She knew that he was watching the conversation the whole time from the back; she just couldn't believe that he thought she was going to be in the mood for some of his pathetic attempts at denials after what happened. Anyone who knew their relationship knows that they didn't get along at all in fact they couldn't stand each other but one would figure that amazons would have each other's back. It seemed that the young still had a lot to learn and a few whacks from her mighty staff would be a step in the right direction._

_"Listen to me carefully Mousse. I want you to close up the restaurant early, let those who are now eating finish their meals but don't let anyone else in and make sure not to take any more carry out orders. After you are done with that I want you to go out and find Shampoo and make sure she gets back safely."_

_"Alright Granny." He said with a hint of determination. He was a bit pumped up over that fact that he actually had official permission to go and find his lady love. "I won't let you down."_

_"One more thing more." Cologne spoke firmly stopping the Chinese youth from proceeding with his instructions. "If you run into that man, I want to make it perfectly clear that you are not to engage him on any circumstances. That…creature is at a level beyond what you are capable of dealing with and I won't have my granddaughter endangered because of your pride. Do I make myself clear?"_

_"Y…yes maam." Mousse saw that inner rage in the old ghoul's eyes and he wasn't about to set it off. He hasn't seen that look since they were back in China and he be damned if he was going to incur that level of her wrath so without another thought he set out to do what he was told._

_(End flashback)_

~_Damn him…..Damn him to the very depts of the many hells_.~ Cologne thought as she sat upon a table within the now empty Nekohanten. To think after all this time HE or rather IT was back in her life and she allowed it to happen. She couldn't help but run through her mind all the time she spent in Nerima chasing after Son-in-law. The more she reminisce the more that she found the clues that pointed to his presence.

He was there alright, he was there watching and waiting in the shadows. The aura was there when she first arrived in Nerima trying to get her Son-in-Law to marry Shampoo by locking in her curse, it was there when she was in the forest with Ryoga teaching him the breaking point technique, and it was there, when Ranma was facing Happosai which ended with the huge Hiryu Shoten Ha. He was always there; faint but there and she allowed herself to let him slip away because she was too busy focus on Ranma. ~_And damn me….~_

The Elder known as Cologne didn't expect that her future son-in-law was going to be this difficult to tame but in the end, that creature was right. Back in her younger days she would have broken son-in-law by now and they would already be in china, but that was another matter right now she had to focus on the task at hand.

She kept going over the conversation in her mind thinking of every word that he said and every movement that he did. While for the most part it was indeed just a way for him to mock her. There was something else behind it; he wasn't one to just do something like that at least not without some other motive.

Her eyes narrowed as the realization dawned on her. It was a challenge, he wasn't just mocking her he was challenging her; it was just like he said. He could have done so many things and gotten away with so much but he didn't and that wasn't like him. He loved causing chaos and misery and he love letting people know he was doing it.

He knows now that she knew he was back, she would do everything in her power to stop him. He knows that she will interfere with him; it was almost like he was counting on it really. He wanted her to come in what he was planning because he wanted his victory to be all the sweeter…after all what better way to mock and humiliate someone then to beat them when they are at their strongest and with help, but what was he planning? As the conversation continued in her mind she came across another discovery.

"Son-in-Law….he chose Ranma as his target." It made sense, after all she knew him he was dropping subtle yet not-so-subtle hints and the fact that he even mentioned Ranma in the conversation at all spoke volumes. She also remembered him saying something about a package. "…oh no…."

Cologne jumped off the table and perched herself on her staff and began to hop out the door. ~_I need to get to the Tendo household quickly and warn them. Oh gods above protect them if that monster is already there…_. ~

* * *

Ranma was still within the room kneeling next to his friend/rival Ryoga. Kasumi and Akane already left the room, the eldest Tendo sister needed to continue on with various household chores while his fiancé wanted to take a bath, of course that was only half the reason, he saw it in her eyes, she didn't want to see their friend in the state he was in now and after looking at his rival's chest he honestly couldn't blame her.

Even though he was appearing to be looking at the sleeping eternal lost boy his thoughts were somewhere else. He was wracking his mind trying to figure out what happened to him. Try as he might no one he knew could to inflict that type of damage on him at least lately. Twisting the flesh on his chest almost like it was clay.

Lime was perhaps strong enough to do that to his friend, he always did have that monstrous strength but from what he seen of the wound, the claws he had wouldn't be big enough. Pantyhose Taro had the strength in his cursed form but he was too large to make a smaller wound like that, besides he wouldn't show his face around after that little stint with Rouge.

The pig-tailed boy chuckled a bit at that before returning to his thoughts. The only people he could see doing this was either the old Ghoul or the Freak. Even though they both were old dwarfs, they still have way more power in their little bodies than a 21 year old athlete in his prime. Who knows what they were truly capable of? But, it was highly unlikely they would do something THAT brutal, no this looked like a vendetta of some kind. ~_Could there be another player in town?_ ~

Ranma found himself torn away from his thoughts when he heard the door open to reveal Kasumi standing there.

"Excuse me Ranma, but you have a guest waiting for you in the living room."

"Thank you Kasumi I will be right down." Ranma gave her a light smile but was curious to see the light blush that was placed on her cheeks but decided not to comment on it. When she left to go back downstairs he calmly turned to Ryoga's sleeping form with worry in his eyes. ~_Don't sweat it man, we will find out who did this. I mean, you helped me out in the past and even though we have our differences we are still friends in the end right? ~_

With those final thoughts he calmly rose to his feet and went to find out just who his guest was. He just hoped and prayed it wasn't another rival or fiancé that pop promised for a dumpling and some water.

Once he entered the room in question he saw the man that Kasumi claimed to be his guest and at the moment he was talking to Mr. Tendo. He was a slightly-pale lanky man, well-dressed, and gave off a presence of politeness. Even though the man was kneeling, Ranma could tell that if he actually stood up he would be significantly taller than him. Ranma raised an eyebrow when he saw his hair. It was short going just past his ear, was parted down the middle with the color being Silver/white which was strange to the young martial artist, unless the person was old, it was just a weird hair color for someone to have. He saw a black fedora hat placed on the table which, of course belong to the mysterious guest considering it was right in front of him.

The truth was that Ranma didn't know what to make of him. He didn't see anyone else with him so that was a good sign and he clearly wasn't female which was an even better sign. He would like to say that he wasn't another rival who done him wrong because half the rivalries he formed he didn't even realized what he was doing at the time.

Once they finished laughing over a joke Tendo made they both finally noticed Ranma had already entered the room.

"Ah, Ranma,. Please come in here." Soun Tendo spoke as motioning for him to sit. "Ranma this is Zachary. Zachary this is Ranma."

"Nice to meet you, Zachary." Ranma said calmly as he took his place at the table. "So what did you want to see me about?"

Seeing his cue to exit, Soun calmly stood up and left the living room so that the two could speak in private.

"Well first off," The man in the trench coat began. "Call me Zach; there is no need to be so formal. Second, I am visiting you because I am writer Ranma and I am currently writing a book about the various chaotic things that Nerima is known for. This ward has developed quite the reputation for it's self which only makes sense After all, it isn't that often that you see a humongous golden bird flying around causing destruction in it's wake."

Ranma gave a sigh as he remembered what Zach was talking about. Stupid Kuno and that damn Phoenix, that was something he didn't want to relive any time soon. Now that he thought about it having this man here didn't seemed so strange, he never really considered it before but if someone just simply stated that he had a weird life it would be the understatement of the year. If anyone else outside of Nerima went through half the stuff that Ranma and his friends went through they would have quarantine the entire area. Now that he thought about it, it is surprising that no one came around here sooner asking about a story.

"I asked around and it seems that you were the one to talk to when it came to the strange things that has been happening here in Nerima. So if you don't mind, I would like to ask you a few questions."

Ranma watched as the man reach into the inside of his coat and pulled out a small pocket size notebook with a pen along with a small tape recorder. He nodded agreeing to the questions besides perhaps it would give him a change to think about what happened to Ryoga. Perhaps retrace the steps of his life so far.

"Alright." Zach began by clicking his pen. "Ranma, it is said that you were trained by your father in the Saotome style of anything goes martial arts at a very early age. Is that true?"

"Yes it's true"

Do you feel that he made the right decision of ripping you away from your mother thus denying you any chance you had at a normal childhood?"

To say that Ranma was taken aback by the surprisingly bold question would have been the understatement. He was expecting a question about how he like Nerima or something not something so bold and personal. "Hold on, I don't see how that has to do with anything."

Zach seemed to ignore Ranma's protest and continued on. "You made it very clear that you are a man no matter what."

"That's right."

"So, why do you constantly turn yourself female in order to get free eats? Why do you use your female form trying to seduce helpless unsuspecting men all even going so far as to almost kiss some of them?"

At this point Ranma was blushing furiously from embarrassment. "Now hold on a second."

"Answer the question: Is it true that you have done this?"

"Well, yeah but-"

Zach continued on. "Could it be that even though you claim to be a guy through and through that you secretly long to feel the warm embrace of a man when you are currently a member of the fairer sex?"

Ranma slammed his hands into the table out of frustration. "NO! What kind of question are these?"

"Ranma Ranma," Zach leaned in closer speaking in a low whisper while completely ignoring the pig-tailed boy's outburst. "Taking into the fact that you are both male and female, is it true that you can actually reproduce asexually?"

Ranma's head was now as red as a cherry tomato. He slammed his hand into the dinner table one more time but this time use the momentum to get to his feet. "That's it! This interview is over, I suggest you leave…..quickly!" Ranma wanted nothing more than to beat this man within an inch of his life but even he knew better about attacking someone who couldn't fight the way that he was used too. For now he was content with him just leaving, he had better things to do than be ask stupid question by some weirdo.

"Ah I understand, don't want to talk about it, alright well perhaps another time then." Zach calmly put away his notebook, pen, and tape recorder into his coat pocket and then proceeded to acquire his hat and quickly placed it on his head before he went heading towards the door that would lead him to the backyard.

"Whatever," Ranma placed his hands on the back of his head and casual began to leave heading for the stairs hoping to check on Ryoga. He took about two steps when he heard the man snapping his fingers.

"Oh wait; actually I have one more question."

"What?" Ranma spoke with a low growl. He was no longer in the mood for any more of this man's crap. If he asks another question concerning his mother or about his curse weak or not he was going to knock this guy into orbit.

"I was wondering, Did you received my package?"

Ranma gave the man a curious sideways glace. He saw that the man at one foot outside and seemed to be giving him a playful smile. "What are you talking about? I didn't receive anything from you."

"Oh sure you have, you know, wears a yellow shirt, green pants, has a yellow bandana with black spots all around it. Gets lost all the time."

At that point Ranma lowered his arms as he turned fully facing him, his eyes widen as he watched that playful smile become a grin on that sent chills to his very soul. That is when something clicked in his mind as he listened to the man as he continued.

"Has a nice gaping hole right in the middle of his chest."

"Y…You…." Ranma looked at the man with narrowed eyes. "You are the one who did that to Ryoga?"

"Bingo!"

Before Ranma could say anything else, the man quickly went out the door and raced out in an attempt to get away. The Saotome heir quickly went after him, jumping over the dinner table and we out in an effort to catch him. However he found nothing out of the ordinary when he looked outside. "Oh no you don't" He said to himself as he quickly jumped to the roof so that he could get a better angle in hopes to finding Zach. However, this seemed to be in vain as he looked around the area and saw nothing, no clue as to where that guy went.

"Hey kid…"

Ranma blinked as he turned around only to have a fist greet him right in the face. It came so fast that he really couldn't registered it until it was too late. He found himself falling off the roof hitting the ground below. He didn't have time to bask in the pain as he saw the man who sucker punched him in the air clearly with the intention of stomping him while he was down.

He quickly maneuvered himself out of the way as Zach's feet hit the ground causing a small hole and a light rumble. Ranma quickly got to his feet never taking his eyes off the man who was at this point rubbing his right fist with his left hand.

"Oh you have no idea how long I have been waiting for the opportunity to punch you in your face." Z now had his right hand on his hat all the while watching the boy get into a fighting stance.

"Well I hope you enjoyed that punch because it won't happen again." He spoke with that determination he was known for. "If you are looking for a fight you came to the right place. Get ready for a beat down because Ryoga is going to have some serious payback through me, with interest."

Ranma watch as the man laughed over that little declaration. "Oh man, it has been so long sense something happened in Nerima that I forgot about your over bloated arrogance. Besides I don't want to fight."

Ranma raised his eyebrows over that last bit but didn't say anything as he remained focus.

"No…I want a massacre. But don't worry."

Ranma watch as Zach calmly removed his hat from his head and placed it aside before as he looked up. He could see that the pupils in his eyes have become snake-like slits and as he looked at him he could feel his whole body tense up.

"It will be a real scream."

…I promise…

* * *

Well, there it is Chapter 3. I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope to hear from you all to let me know if I am doing a good job or not for feedback is always welcome.

Anyway, Chapter 4 should be up sometime during the week so stay tuned. Once again I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. :P

Xul


	4. Chapter 4

11

Note: Hey everyone, sorry this chapter came a bit late I was having some trouble with this one. It was one of those things I kept thinking: 'I can do better.'. I had like three revisions over this, well I hope I picked the right one for your enjoyment. Also a big thanks to those who gave me reviews and has added me, and those who are enjoying the story. You all give me the fuel I need to continue on.

Anyway enough talk, read on :P

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ period, but Zach is quite mine.

* * *

Tumbling…

Falling…

Darkness…

Ryoga was lying on what he felt was glass. His arms were calmly laid at his sides and he could feel the smooth sleek material beneath. At least it felt like glass, he couldn't really be sure for all he could see was nothing short of pitch blackness, he tried to move his head but for some reason his body refused to respond. No matter how much he tried his will alone wasn't be enough to give him the desired result.

After a few moment of vain effort he finally decided to stop and think on how he got into this predicament in the first place. He tunneled through his mind trying to remember all of what happened before he blacked out.

"A note…...A letter"

The Lost boy spoke to himself in the darkness as he remembered that note he received. As Ryoga's focused on the letter it was like a floodgate of information suddenly spilled into his mind. He was remembering now, the letter that contained information about his mother, the man who called himself Z in that letter…that man.

The Lost boy could feel himself let out a growl as he remembered that platinum blonde's twisted smile. Throughout his life he has seen things most people never could even dreamed of, ever sense he has become part of the chaos that surrounded Ranma he has experience things that should be against the law of nature herself, but out of everything he has seen, herd, and done in his life, he will never forget that smiling bastard's face as long as he lived.

"Ranma…."

The name came through Ryoga's lips in a whisper and disappeared just as quickly within the darkness, he wondered if he actually said the name himself or if he just heard it from an unknown source. His mind continued to race as he remembered meeting Ranma or at least a blur that looked like his Rival. He saw him there just before he passed out. That was when the memory of Z sinking his hand…..no those claws into his chest. He remembered the pain he felt as he felt those twisted digits dig into his chest scarping against the bone beneath.

With that realization he half expected for his body to be wracked with pain….but he didn't feel any pain, no bruise, not even numbness. In fact, he felt rather normal, like there was no damage to his body at all but the strange thing was that he could feel no restraints on his person, like he could move if he waited too. That would be great if he COULD actually move.

It was at that point where Ryoga could actually hear footsteps approach him. He couldn't bring himself to say anything or do anything as he herd each step caused by someone slowly approach him. He could only imagine who that person was, It, couldn't have been Ranma because he wore kung fu shoes and these sounded more like heavy boots if anything.

With each step that the Lost boy heard, he could feel his heart beating faster and faster. He truly couldn't believe this, he was in a place that gave off no form of light what's so ever, he couldn't move his body no matter how hard he tried, and he was at the mercy of someone he couldn't even see. The stranger was planning to do 'who knows what' to him and he couldn't even do anything about it. What did he do to deserve this fate?

"My, my, my, you always were a fidgety one Ryoga."

The voice that the Bandana boy herd was defiantly male but wasn't overly deep but was smooth. Ryoga face twisted in confusion. What he expected from his captor actually was for him to be more aggressive perhaps even grab him like a wee babe and toss him around, not to have a calm, friendly voice…but then again, who's to say that he won't. "Who are you? Where am I? Show yourself!"

Ryoga's demands echoed within the darkness. Each one a reasonable request given the circumstances of his situation but, the man who suddenly let his presence known didn't answer any of them right away. Instead once again the lost boy heard those same footsteps; from the sound of each step he judged that the man was slowly walking around him as if he was sizing him up for something. Once the man reached the right side of Ryoga's head the footsteps stopped and the Lost boy could hear him crouch in an effect for him to get closer.

"Why not simply open your eyes."

Ryoga's face twisted in confusion, his eyes were opened, he could feel that they were open and all he saw was darkness. He wanted so badly to cry out against the man for telling him something so stupid. However, his thoughts were interrupted as he felt himself blink for the first time sense this whole thing started and found himself groaning as light hit him in the eyes directly. He groaned as he moved his right hand up to his face to shield himself from the light of the sun so that his eyes could adjust.

Once he was sure he gave his eyes enough time he lowered his hands to look up to get a sense of his surroundings. He saw a beautiful clear blue sky without a single cloud, it was truly a peaceful sight, part of him just wanted to remain where he was and rest knowing that nothing could disturb such a peaceful site.

"What the…" Of course even the sight of something so beautiful couldn't deter the lost boy's thoughts for long. He sat up with widen eyes as he noticed that he was finally able to move his body. He raised his arms and looked at his hands and gently began to flex them. Being paralyze for any amount of time is not a pleasant experience and he wanted to make sure that it was completely over. Once he was finished with flexing his hands arms and his upper body, he quickly got to his feet to check out the rest of his body to make sure everything was in working order.

Once he was sure that his body was back to normal the Lost Boy took the time to finally look at his surroundings. He found himself in a forest clearing; in fact one that looked incredibly similar to the one he fought that strange guy with the silver hair.

His eyes continued to scan the area trying to find something out of the ordinary, or at least find the owner of the voice that was speaking to him earlier. It just didn't make any sense, when he listened to the voice earlier he could clearly hear footstep echo around him as if they were made upon hard floor but there was nothing beneath him but grass and dirt so….

"YOU CAN'T HURT ME!"

The words roared throughout the entire area, enough to scatter the birds that placed themselves within their respective locations, but there was something else about that yell that chilled the Lost Boy to his very core but it couldn't be what he was thinking, it just couldn't. Moving more on instinct than thought, he raced into the forest, going in the direction he believed the yelling was coming from. Normally, he would mentally question as to how exactly he knew where he was going but right now he was too focused on his goal to dwell upon it.

When he finally reached his destination, he found himself shocked at his discovery. Once he was close enough to see, whatt he saw was himself a bit younger but clearly was him, standing with a confident scowl on his face looking down at a fallen Ranma. Ryoga stood dumbfounded trying to figure out exactly what is going on here.

"You can't defeat me Saotome!"

Ryoga watched as his younger self moved forward in an attempt to strike a Ranma who nimbly moved out of the way. The lost boy watched as his doppelganger strike the ground instead of his rival and as he did the ground exploded in his face blanketing his body in gravel and dust. The Lost boy then looked past his double to see Akane, Cologne, and Genma in his panda form watching on. That is when it hit him, he was dreaming about the time he just learned the Bakusai Tenketsu and was fighting Ranma.

"Close Ryoga, Not really a Dream per say. More like a trip down memory lane, a vision if you will." The voice caused the young martial artist to nearly jump as he spun around. Whoever it was, he recognized it as the same voice that spoke to him, telling him to wake up. Of course this leads him to being surprised when he discovered that the owner of the voice was…a little black piglet wearing his yellow and black bandana around his neck like a scarf.

"P-Chan?" The lost boy spoke in a confused tone. There it was, the very symbol in which formed the basis of half his argument that his life was literally a living hell. This was the physical form of the little black piglet that he was cursed to endure whenever a significant amount of cold water splashed his body. Complete with the Yellow and black bandana tied around it's neck. It was enough to make him cringe

"P-Chan…." The little black piglet calmly spoke the name and then gave an oddly cute combination of laughter and a squeal. Clearly, it was finding it all amusing. "Well….considering the circumstances it is as good a name as any for now."

Ryoga looked a P-Chan for a second not really sure on how he could say. It was truly weird to actually see his form right in front of him without the use of a mirror. If he didn't know any better he would figure that he was having one of those out-of-boy experiences that some people go on about. Something seemed to click in his head as he suddenly turned around to continue to watch one of his battles from the past just in time to see Ranma do his Saotome School anything goes martial arts final attack.

"Ready…..Set….RUNAWAY!"

Ryoga brought his hand to his face as he watched his Rival avoid his younger self's attack by running away deeper into the forest. It is said that when a third party is watching two people play a game of some kind he can see things from both perspectives and as such come up with strategies and tactics so that both sides can win. The lost boy looked over at his younger self who was just standing there stunned but in his case all Ryoga could feel was just pure embarrassment. "That…..that is just…"

"Yes I know," P-Chan spoke who was now sitting right next to him watching the battle as well. IT seemed that he didn't really give off the notion of being embarrassed more like amusement.

"Is there any particular reason I am reliving this battle." Ryoga was starting to get a bit annoyed with all of this. He already knew this fight and knew exactly how it was going to end, so why did he have to watch it again. "I know what is going to happen, so why am I watching this?"

P-Chan didn't say anything as he continued watching the battle moving towards the climax with Ranma firing the chestnut fit into Ryoga's abdomen over and over again so that he could actually hurt his opponent. "Maybe because this is one of the events in your life that has been burned forever within your mind no matter how hard you try to forget it."

Ryoga folded his arms as he looked down at P-Chan with more or less a blank expression. He was trying to find the right words to reply to that comment but he really couldn't think of anything to say especially when you talk into consideration that he was right.

"I know Ryoga." Ryoga herd his cursed form continue to speak to him as he looked away and closed his eyes pondering. "I know you constantly think of this battle...no. not just this battle but everything that lead up to this battle."

P-Chan suddenly jumped up and landed on the Lost boy's shoulder and then jumped again to land on his head. As the pig rested himself there, the scenery changed, instead of a forest they were now within the field of Furinkan High school. It was the first official match between Ryoga Hibiki and Ranma Saotome.

Ryoga watched in awe as the two exchange blows, of course the most noteworthy part to him was when they both kicked at each other and blocked at the same time. He remembered that one exchange, he could literally feel the fighting skill off of his opponent and he knew Ranma could feel the same. It was that one moment when both knew to their surprise that they were fighting an equal.

"Seems like another life time ago doesn't it?"

Ryoga blinked as he looked on. He was so engrossed in the moment that he practically forgot that P-Chan was lying down on top of his head. He didn't say anything as he continued watching the fight. He saw as Ranma used the handcuff and wire to his advantage and swing under and subdue his younger self under him.

"True Fighting equals here, no matter what that Pig Tailed boy did, you always had a way around him."

Ryoga could feel himself smirking as he watched his dream clone force himself up with one hand and lift them both into the air in order to escape his situation. His little moment of pride was stopped when P-Chan suddenly clang his hooves on the Lost boy's forehead. Ryoga looked up at annoyance as P-Chan looked back down giving one of those cute smiles that he would give Akane when he still pretended to be her pet.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" As he looked forward again he saw his surroundings have once again changed. This time he was within the Tendo's backyard. It was raining but to his surprise he didn't changed, he then quickly remembered that he was in a dream and wouldn't normally change….unless it was a nightmare, not to mention that his curse form was already on top of his head.

The Bandana boy was jerked out of his thoughts when he suddenly heard a loud splash. He looked up to see Ranma in his girl from standing in the pond with his double holding up his umbrella in order to keep himself dry. He watched as the two exchange words and then proceeded to fight.

"Even here when you were handicapped by having been in the the rain it's self. You still fought on Equal terms with Ranma. In his girl form none the less, the half of him that is said to be faster."

Ryoga quickly grabbed the little black piglet and growled. It was clear that he just about at it with this trip down memory lane and at this point this was working on his last nerve "Listen up Pork chop….." He actually had to pause for a moment after he said that. It was just so surreal calling his own curse form that especially considering that he was the one who was usually called that along with other names. Even P-Chan had to give out a sigh after that.

"Anyway….look this maybe such huge news for you. But I already know all of this and can pretty much guess what happens because I was there. What is the point of all of this?" Ryoga blinked as he watched P-Chan slip out of his grasp easily and jumped kicked in the forehead. The little porker was stronger than he looked, he actually manages to knock Ryoga off his feet….the kick didn't hurt or anything like that but there was just enough force to have the desired effect.

When he opened his eyes again he found that he was upside down, he looked up and he saw Ranma looking down at him with confusion in his eyes. Ranma was holding him by the head so that he wouldn't fall. It was a combination of subduing and helping him at the same time. Ryoga looked down or in his case up and saw that instead of a fountain, he was over a pit of darkness which promised oblivion if he was to fall in. The fanged teenager could feel his heart racing, his body tensing up, and sweat forming on his forehead. He tried desperately to grab onto Ranma's arm, shirt, pants, anything really. He had to get out of this he just had too.

"Wow Ryoga, I thought you were training out in the wilderness getting stronger."

Hearing those words Ryoga growled as he tried one last ditch effort to grab onto Ranma but just when it seemed that he would finally have the reach to grab his rival. Ranma suddenly let go of him and in that one moment Ryoga felt truly lost.

Tumbling….

Falling….

Ranma let go, his only life like to the darkness let him go and now he was plunging into the depth of the abyss. Even in this dream world time cease to exist for him. Within his mind he kept thinking about everyone, His parents, Ranma, Akane, Ukyo, Mousse, Shampoo, Cologne, everyone has a place everyone but him, Someone who even home was just a luxury to him. Perhaps this was an appropriate place for him, Alone and forgotten.

Trapped forever in the darkness.

…..always within the darkness.

After what seemed like an eternity passed. Ryoga found himself once again lying in the same forest clearing when all this started only this time the sky was covered with grey clouds and it was raining. For once in his life the rain was a welcome change as the cool liquid help calm his beating heart.

The lost boy felt something pressed against his chest, his eyes left the sky and looked down to find P-Chan sitting calmly looking right back at him.

"Do you understand now?"

Ryoga didn't say anything but the calm acceptance on his face was a clear indication that he understood perfectly now. This whole thing was almost like a visual representation of his earlier thoughts before he ran into that bastard Z and they were picking up right where he left off.

"It was at that moment in which your TRUE rivalry with Ranma Saotome began. Before, you were always around the same level of Skill with him but you constantly had to follow him and it wasn't just the bread, hell you even gotten over the curse by now. You felt better that you weren't the only one cursed and not to mention that Tendo girl did make it a bit easier."

Ryoga could feel his emotional barrier begin to breakdown within him. Every single image he was shown up to this point was nothing more than a blow to his person. The pig was right…He remembered how he felt when he was placed in that predicament by Ranma, after all his training out in nature only to be defeated so easily and be so helpless at the mercy of his enemy while he looked so casual about it, but nothing hurt him more than what Akane said during that whole chapter in his life. '_Ranma…..you shouldn't bully the weak._' Hearing her say that was worst than taking all the chestnut fits his rival could ever dish out. IT was at that moment when it finally dawned on him that he was back to squared one….back in school, where he had to crawl so hard to gain respect only to have it dashed away by Ranma and it happened all over again. It was at that point where he truly remembered why he had to defeat Ranma in the first place because Ranma was him…a better version of him and as long as he existed he would continue to fade…. but he already accepted it all so why does it still hurt so damn much.

"What do you want from me?" Ryoga asked in a broken voice. He wanted to wake up so badly at this point but had already figured this wasn't a normal dream.

P-Chan calmly jumped off the Lost boy's chest and calmly walked over to sit next to his head. His eyes were of a neutral expression as he began to speak. "Ryoga, The things is as you are now you can never ever defeat Ranma Saotome."

Ryoga's eyes moved over to look over at the black piglet whose expression hasn't changed. He didn't say anything and waited for him to continue on.

"I have been with you far longer than you realize and I can honestly say that when pitted against Ranma Saotome you are destined to fail." The small black piglet began to walk around Ryoga's body as he continued on. "Now don't get me wrong. It is not because you are weaker than Ranma. That is far from the truth, your skills are indeed equal to his and your natural fighting talent and potential is perhaps one of the greatest of this generation and anyone who has seen your fights with him knows that you could have beaten him…so why? Why when the advantage is clearly your does the Pig Tailed boy manage to pull a victory out of his ass?"

Ryoga made sure to follow P-Chan with his eyes never keeping his eyes off of him as he waited for the answer to the question because lord knows he was trying to figure it all out ever sense he first met his friend/rival.

"It is said that everyone when they are born as a place in this world. A purpose if you will. It was decided by the gods, fate, or what have you that Ranma's place was within Nerima. Even though that place was Chaos incarnate even before Ranma got there, the fact that it all shifted focus to Ranma when he arrived speaks volumes. Something could happen all the way on the other side the city while Ranma is sleeping inside the comfort of the Tendo's roof over his head, it will still be connected to him in some way.

You and Ranma are so similar it is borderline disturbing really. If someone actually took the time to analyze the both of you, they would come up with the conclusion that you two are literally two sides of the same coin….a coin that can never land on it's edge."

P-Chan took the time to once again jump up on Ryoga's chest and place himself there.

"With that knowledge think about it this. You two have such presence that everyone else falls into the second fiddle when compared with the exception of the old man and the ghoul. If trees are the symbols that represented a person's existence, then you can be considered the wind, always moving, always wandering, trying to find a place in the forest that is existence, no can see you and or tell what you are but they have enough to know that you are there. It is because you are such an element that you are trapped in this cruel cycle against your will. Whenever, you truly challenged Ranma you wasn't just challenging him, you were challenging his very purpose, his very center and because you are the wind or X factor if you will you actually have the potential to take his center, so through some form or another whether it be skill, luck, trickery, cowardly tactics or whatever, fate has deemed that you will lose the big one.

Kind of depressing thinking that the hands of fate it's self might actually be working against you or maybe I am over complicating things. Maybe it is just some person with a twisted sense of humor sitting behind a desk with a bunch of drawing utensils declared that Ryoga Hibiki despite the fact haven't suffered enough can never win."

Ryoga raised his eyebrow over that last bit and sighed as he heard P-Chan snickering before continuing.

"But, I digress, you will most likely win the smaller skirmishes but when it comes to the true epic duels you will lose every time. Not because of skill but because you are trying desperately to be part of something you have no real business being a part of. It is not your fault, hell I know you would be more grateful to belong to something that most people take for granted but there can't be two Ranmas and there can't be two Ryogas. Do you understand?"

"Yes…." Ryoga's voice was nothing more than a whisper; there was more air than actual voice in the reply. It made sense; he was trying to figure out what it was that truly set Ranma apart from him and why he wanted to defeat him so badly. Sure the pig took the long way around but, in the end he was right. He suddenly remembered those stinging words Z said to him when he was at his mercy. _you are DESTINED to fail. YOU lose to a guy whose final attack is just running away like a coward! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM TELLING YOU?~_

"It is interesting really…"

"What is?..." Ryoga once again spoke in that whisper.

"With a couple of changes, it could have easily been on the reverse. You could have been in Ranma's position and he in yours." P-Chan once again jumped up but this time sat next to Ryoga's head. "Ryoga, I am telling you all of this because I wanted to make things quite clear that there is nothing for you on the current path you are on. You know who your parents are but you never truly knew them. You never really felt a mother's love, or a father's pride, most of the people you know in Nerima just use you in an effort to archive their own ends which almost always involve Ranma and the closest thing you have to a pure friend Akane….well let's face it, friendships are fickle they can range from seeing each other every day, sharing your deepest darkest secret, to a casual greeting at your local food market after not seeing each other for a few months….guess which side of the spectrum your friendship falls under."

Ryoga raised his head a bit. It was the first major movement he did sense arriving at this forest clearing.

"No, Ryoga….I can show you a different path.

A path where you don't have to work so hard trying desperately to archive recognition that some people selfishly piss away.

A path where you won't have to wonder about your purpose in this world or make such an effort to create one.

A path where the happiness that you so desperately seek doesn't have to be a lifetime journey.

A path where you will be able to crush your enemy into a bloody mass if you so desired."

The Lost boy watched with growing amazement at grin grew on P-Chan's lips. He eyes widen as he slowly sat up with his arms behind him to support him, he noticed that the small piglet began to give off an ominous crimson glow and slowly began to grow in size. "W…What are you?"

"What am I?" Ryoga literally jumped to his feet as he listened to P-Chan's voice which was much deeper than it should have been for his taste. With renewed strength he quickly got to his feet never taking his eyes off the piglet. But, as he finally made it on two legs P-Chan jumped passed him and literally dived into his casting shadow much like a swimmer dives into the deep water.

The Bandana boy looked on in surprised over the fact. After a few moments, he looked on as his shadows began to become twisted and shapeless before finally reverting back to Ryoga's shape completely with two glowing red eyes. "What the he-"Before Ryoga could finish that though the shadow began to move and rise off the ground. He looked on dumbstruck as he saw his shadow literally take on a life of it's own.

It wasn't before long that he was staring at a perfect shadow clone of himself only everything the clone was wearing was shadow.

"What am I you say? I could be your conscious, your voice of reason and thought or I could be a figment of your imagination that you came up with while you were here and I was created to lay it all out for you when you couldn't yourself. But both of those are wrong…."

Ryoga could literally feel his heart trying to leap out of his chest in an effort to get away when he heard his shadow clone talk to him. It spoke with both the voice of P-Chan and his own; to say that this was strange would just be putting it mildly. That foulness he felt when he first met Z was there but somehow this was different, this was far greater and more intense.

"I….._am_ you."

The martial artist saw a huge twisted grin appeared on the shadow face as it reached out with it's darkened hand in an effort to grab him. He couldn't move his body was frozen in fear of this….this thing. All the training in the world and he just wasn't prepared on how to deal with something like this.

"No…NO!" Ryoga shouted to the heavens when suddenly he awakened and quickly sat up from the futon. His eyes were wide, his heart was racing, his breathe was heavy, and he was covered in a cold sweat. It took a bit of time for his mind to follow his body to the waken world but once he did he finally took the time to look at his surroundings.

He was in a room of some kind; this caused confusion as he damn sure remembered not being there before. He wondered if this was just another part of the dream as well when suddenly the wound on his chest finally protested over the fact that he sat up so quickly. With a groan he placed his hand over the wound trying to calm down the pain. At least it was proof enough that he was no longer in that nightmare.

He looked down expecting to see more blood but to his surprised he was bandage up and the serious injury he sustained with his fight against that bastard didn't hurt near as much as it did before. He tried to gather his thoughts trying to piece what happened. He remembered wondering desperately trying to get back home when….

"That right…..Ranma found me." He spoke at the emptiness of the room. He concluded that he must have taken him back to the Tendo dojo and tended to his wounds. As he looked on he could see his traveling pack resting against the wall. He let out a sigh as he lay back down. He would have to take Ranma for his help….hopefully he won't be stuck up about it.

"RANMA!"

Ryoga quickly sat up when he heard the cry of his one-time love interest hit his ears. He knew when Akane was upset and from the way she said the name of her finance the voice was a mixture of fear and concern. He wondered what was going on when suddenly he heard an impact followed by a light rumble against the ground, it was enough to cause the house to slightly shake. There was a battle going on right outside, Ranma was fighting someone….someone who's aura was cold and…..familiar.

The Lost boy's eyes widen as he quickly sprang to his feet. It was him….it was Z, he didn't know how but he found him. He would sooner be damned before he was going to let that bastard harmed his friends. His body was still racked with pain but he wasn't going to let THAT stop him, with determination he raced and opened the door and quickly went through only to find himself into the closet.

"DAMNIT….THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME FOR THIS TO HAPPEN!"

* * *

(Earlier)

Within the Tokyo district of Nerima, it is quite common that chaos and destruction went hand in hand and normally at the center of it all was the young man known as Ranma Saotome. The concept of it all evolved around martial arts in some form or another whether it was formal like an honorable duel or something not so formal like a martial arts takeout race, but no matter what was going on everyone knew that a fight of some kind was taking place.

It has been months sense any real chaos was within Nerima but it seemed that it was picking up right where things left off after Saffron. The backyard of the Tendo household two adversaries were about to face each other. While the peace was nice while it lasted, Ranma just knew that it couldn't last forever…but it could have at least lasted one good year.

The Heir to the Saotome School was in his default fighting stance while carefully sizing up Z. He saw his opponent was in a very casual stance, in fact, he looked like someone who was on his way to a corporate board meeting not a fight, hell both of his hands were placed calmly in his pockets and he still had on that damn eerie grin. He wanted to rush in and attack this man but he wasn't stupid. This was the same guy who did the damage to Ryoga so; he was going to have to caution.

He felt that he and this Zach developed a small little audience. Kasumi and Soun was there wanting to see what the commotion was earlier but one they saw it was a fight they decided to just calmly watch, not too much longer after that Nibiki arrived finally coming home after being gone for the day no doubt doing whatever underhanded deed she needed to do in order to get some Yen, but that was irrelevant to him right now. Right now he had someone to defeat, as long as he played it smart and try to find a weakness to this guy's form then he knew he would win after all he was the one who defeated the Phoenix Emperor.

"What's wrong Ranma?"

Ranma eyes narrowed as he heard the man speaking forcing his thoughts back.

"If you are waiting for me, then all you had to do was say so."

Ranma blinked as the man suddenly rushed at him with speed that actually rivaled his Female form. Bring forth all of his agility he just barley manage to dodge the forward open hand strike that was meant for his face. Unlike most attacks that were normally thrown his way he wasn't able to recover his balance for this dodge was more of desperation than skill. As he fell to the ground he quickly flipped backwards to his feet to avoid another strike aimed towards him.

When he landed on his feet he saw the man's hand still placed upon the ground and around the hand was a tiny yet perfectly formed crater. Seeing this, Ranma got an idea of what one of his punches would do to him if they actually connected.

"What's wrong Ranma? Is running away all you are good at?"

Ranma watched as the man stood upright while opening and closing his attacking hand as if to see it was still functioning. The young martial artist of course smirked when he heard the comment. "Don't flatter yourself; I am just sizing up my opponent that is all."

"Good, I would hate to think I came all this way for nothing."

Before Ranma could say anything, Zach was on him again, he wasn't doing any more of those forward thrusts, this time he was actually fighting Ranma with fist instead of that palm strike he started off with and as a result Ranma noticed that Z's speed and agility was lowered to match his own and in this regard he felt he had more of a chance than before.

After avoiding a kick from Zach and hoping to put some distance between them with some back handsprings, he found himself surprised with Z was already on him. With no time to dodge, he quickly blocked the attack, he felt a stinging discomfort every time he actually had to block the guy's attack but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He tried to take the offensive with a couple of punches of his own but they were quickly blocked by Zach. They were exchanging blows to see which who would be on the offensive.

After Ranma's fifth attempt to actually connect a punch to Zach's body, he found that his attack was once again block but what he didn't count on was Z grabbing his wrist and actually pulling him towards the man in black, all he could do was grunt in pain as the man quickly drove his elbow into Ranma's stomach.

Not wanting to leave himself open, Ranma attempted another punch at the silver haired man who just quickly moved out of the poor excuse of an attack and in the next second the pig-tailed martial artist felt Zach giving him a kick to his spine, as he lurched forward he quickly found himself connecting with a spinning hook kick aimed at his chest. The impact was more than enough for him to flip in mid-air before he hit the ground hard.

"Heh, you are not half bad kid..…in 15 to 20 years you might actually be good enough to be in my shadow."

Ranma herd the man taunting him but for the moment decided not to be goaded. His mind raced even through the pain trying to figure out what was going on here. Ranma was no slouch when it came to Strength and endurance, he has done feats of strength that wasn't humanly possible and he has endured attacks that would people most in the world's population in intensive care if they were lucky. But, this guy's attack strength was like the power of a freight train going at maximum speed all compressed into a fist. An almost overwhelming sense of pain was placed in each area that the man's attack's connected; it was even hard to breathe thanks to that kick to the chest he endured.

"What are you doing just laying there Ranma? You can't let that jerk Whip on you like that!" Ranma blinked as he turned towards the doorway to find that his oh so sensitive fiancé standing there with her arms folded and a look of annoyance across her face. It was actually moments like this that he was glad that he didn't make her his official wife yet.

"Well, well, well, helllllooooo Akane"

Ranma felt a shiver down his spine as he looked over at Zach who was now eyeing his fiancé. Summoning his strength he quickly moved to his feet. "Forget her; this fight is far from over." The pig-tailed boy received a kick to his ribs which came so fast that by the time he realized what happened he was already back on the ground.

* * *

Zach looked at the oh so luscious Akane Tendo with a sharp eye. Part of him screamed to keep focus on the fight and not to underestimate Ranma playtime could come afterwards, but he quickly silence that part of his mind. His…..playful nature couldn't be denied when an opportunity presented it's self. Besides he actually had a theory he wanted to test.

Moving with the same speed he was using to engage Ranma before he suddenly stood in front of the youngest Tendo. In a swift motion he clasp one of her delicate hands and placed it within both of his own.

"Akane Tendo, We meet at last. I must say that actually being this close to you truly helps me to truly grasp your beauty." Zach gave a gentle smile that actually caused Akane to be stunned and even blush a little bit. He knew very well that she too found him quite handsome but damn if she was going to show it openly.

"What exactly is it with Akane attaching the odd subgroup of the male sex?"

"Ah it is actually quite simple really if one actually breaks it down." Zach's smile seems to grow as he heard the voice of Akane's older Sister Nibiki asking him the question. He gently chuckled before he continued to address her. "Nice creamy skin, great curves, not to tall but clearly in shape, has just a bit of a rough edge to her personally to keep a man on his toes but still quite soft when you get to the center of it all.

Z suddenly shivered as a small laugh escape his lips. "ooooooooo it makes my bones hot." He looked on with amusement as Akane's entire face turned beet red. She quickly removed her hand from his and proceeded to slap him across the face but the only result was that slap was to hurt her hand. "Oh yeah baby, I love it when the chicks give me a nice preview…come on let me have another for good luck."

"…Gladly."

"Huh?"

Z blinked in confusion as the reply was oddly masculine the next thing he knew he felt five knuckles colliding with his face with enough force to send him crashing though the backyard wall. At least one of his theories proved correct, playing with Akane Tendo was the key to get Ranma to take things to the next level.

* * *

Ranma rubbed his knuckles calmly as he looked on at the hole in the wall that Zach's body recently created. He had to say that it felt good to finally land a good solid punch on this guy, he never figured the guy as much of a fighter when he first laid eyes on him but, that was a mistake that was costing him dearly. He was truly loathed to admit it but if it wasn't for that little stint he did with Akane he wouldn't have the time to gain his second wind.

The Saotome heir took the time to look over at Akane giving her both a serious and concern look. "Make sure to keep away from him Akane, He is the one who gave Ryoga his injuries." He saw the look of surprise and Horror on her face as it sank in for her.

"You mean…He is the one that -?"

Ranma calmly nodded before she could finish the question, he knew from the way her skin became paler that she was thinking about that twisting wound on their friend's chest. Even though he couldn't blame her he truly hated to see her like this and that MAN was the cause of all of it. Well, he was done playing around, he said he was going to pay him back for what he did for Ryoga and planned to keep his word. No matter what obstacle that was placed in front of him, he always found a way to win and the end, So it was time to take it to the next level.

"Alright!" Ranma called out to Zach as he jumped back into the backyard watching the hole waiting for his opponent to emerge his confidence steadily building. "While, you are good, it is time you find out why I am the best there is. So get ready because now the gloves are off."

With renewed determination Ranma got back into his fighting stand, everyone could hear his knuckles cracked as he closed his hands into his fist. He was ready this time…this guy had monstrous strength that was just like Ryoga….no surpassed Ryoga and his speed matched his own, but he was getting a sense of this guy's way of fighting now. However, the thoughts he was processing in a strategy on how to reengage him in battle was quickly placed aside as he saw the man coming back through the hole all the while laughing.

Ranma watch the place laughed towards the heavens with one gloved hand covering the upper half of his face. "What's so funny?" The man stopped laughing and lowered his hand to look at the Pig-tailed boy but he still had that same damn eerie grin.

"You poor diluted boy…WHAT ISN'T?"

Ranma's eyes narrowed at that little statement but he didn't say anything so the man would continue.

"I never heard such an amusing joke in a long time. 'The best there is' and 'The gloves are off'? Are you kidding me? Then what were you doing all this time while I was beating you down? Huh? Showing off a branch in your 'oh so great' style? The Saotome School of face to feet and fists style of anything goes martial arts?"

A growl slips past the throat of Ranma as he looked at the silver haired jerk. Still, he was mocking him in that same playful manner he did earlier when he was asking him those fake question. All it did was to remind him that he had a THIRD reason for shutting this guy up once and for all. "I've had all I can talk of your crap."

"Then bring it on you Hydro sexual he-bitch!"

With the speed he was known for, the Saotome Heir charged at the Man in black with the impression of launching his punch right at his chest. He saw as the man notice him despite his speed and went up to block his attack but as he raised his arm the young martial artist couldn't help but smirk at Zach. "Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken!"

The Chestnuts fist connected with Zach flawlessly, Ranma was able to land punch after punch after punch into the torso of his opponent. What seemed like one punch to the untrained eye was actually hundreds of punches…hell even those who had a sharper eyes could mostly see only a blur where the young man's arms was suppose to be, but Zach didn't have that problem he could feel each and every one of the impacts.

When Ranma finished with his attack he saw Zach was launched back but his feet was firmly placed on the ground causing the ground to be up heaved but he still didn't leave his feet. Now that Ranma's thought about it, he couldn't remember the man in black being brought down not once. Even he was sent him through the wall he was still on his feet. Just who in the hell was this guy.

His eyes became more focus as he watch Zach quickly recover from his attack. _~This guy has monster stamina…I got to for a way to get him off his feet~ _Ranma blinked as he suddenly herd Zach give a dark chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Ryoga was right…..they do feel like baby punches."

Ranma let out a frustrated growl as he launches himself at Zach again. He saw that man was still stumbling a bit and he didn't want to wait for the silver haired man to fully get his bearing, Ranma once again launched himself to attack, He saw the man raised his arms in an effect of defense but he wasn't going to let that stop him. With a fierce battle cry he prepared to bombard his adversary with the chestnut fist again only this time he was using both hands…..or at least that was the plan.

Within the blink of an eye Zach was right in his face with that cocky grin ever present, it happened so fast that Ranma didn't even realized what was going on until he tried to move his arms. He looked down as saw that Zach had both his wrist grasped tightly around his gloved hands. Ranma was truly shocked, this man so fast that not only he was able to easily outmaneuver the double chest fist; he even took the time to catch both his wrists in mid-attack. He was so surprised he almost didn't notice the man speaking to him.

"Wow….you are just too easy to bait, just like all the other opponents you fight."

Ranma suddenly found himself launched into the air as he was on the receiving end of an uppercut. Everything happened so hard and so fast that he didn't even notice where he was about to land.

"RANMA!"

Ranma could hear Akane's scream in the background just before he found himself submerged in the pound. Once he felt the water he almost immediately felt the change on his male form and mentally cursed himself for not paying more attention to where he was going to land. He or rather she quickly rose out of the pond in order to gasp for air. She shook the water out of her red hair before she gave Zach a scowl.

"Now that's an appropriate form for you Ranma my boy…oh sorry, girl."

Ranma-chan quickly jumped out of the pound fully intending to continue the fight but her eyes widen as she suddenly realize that she was unable to move. With just her eyes she looked down and saw she struggling but her body didn't want to complete it was like her very skin was made out weigh over 100 tons. She some effect she looked back up and saw Zach with his hands in his pocket the same damn grin on his face but those snake like eyes were glowing this time. It didn't take the now pig-tailed girl to put two and two together. "What's wrong? Can't beat me fair and square?"

The pig-tailed girl was a little surprised she was able to talk considering that everything else wasn't working when it came to body movement but she wasn't complaining in face if anything she was a little confused. She got a reaction out of him but not the reaction she was looking for, in fact he was downright laughing that she just said the best joke ever.

"'fair and square'…..oh I hope you are joking Ranma."

"Why don't you release me and find out if I am kidding or not." The Pig tailed girl growled as she tried another vain attempt to get free. When she realized that it was useless to force herself from her situation, she heard Zach speaking.

"Ranma, Ranma, Ranma….You are literally one of the LAST people on this planet who should be talking about doing things fair and square."

Ranma growled once again as she saw that playful look in the man's eye but she didn't say anything but just listened as he continued.

"Ranma what you are experiencing now is nothing short of reality. You see, I have been watching you for a very long time now and I can honestly say that there is no real reason why you should even attempt to call yourself a martial artist that would be an insult to martial artists everywhere…no you are more along the lines of a street fighter. Martial Artist actually have honor."

"What the hell do you know about honor?" Ranma growled as she tried to move.

"What I have forgotten about honor is more than you will ever know of it boy. You see in truth we are a lot alike, you and I."

"We are nothing alike!" Ranma fiercely interrupted, but mostly Z ignored the outburst and continued

"Ah still don't understand let me break it down for you. Ranma Saotome, you have been raised by your father in his efforts to turn you into a man among men. Someone to give an example to young males, anyway any five year old can tell you that a real man is brave, tough, stand up and faces up to even the toughest challenge."

Ranma looked on with a curious eye as he saw Zach with his hand on his chin and is index finger tapping his cheek, he could feel a tingle in his spine. She didn't like where he was going with this.

"Let's take a trip down memory lane. When you were out in the woods facing Ryoga right after he completed that stupid breaking point technique. What did you do when you found yourself being overwhelmed by Ryoga's offense what did you do?...You tuck your pig tail in between your legs and you ran like a coward. Of course, I don't know whether I find it either amusing or just plain embarrassing that you actually call running away your final attack.

Ranma…here is a newsflash for you. Running away is not manly. REAL men stand their ground and fight on even when things are overwhelming for them. REAL martial artist knows that when their opponent's runs away that means they FORFEIT the match. In that one little moment of that so called 'Final Attack' you failed yourself as a martial artist and you failed yourself as a man.

Now I know you try to justify it with that your styles name sake 'anything goes' martial arts…..seriously that is just stupid. I mean according the logic of 'anything goes' martial arts, you can train for 16 years in the style and challenge someone to a martial arts duel only for your opponent to pull out a gun and shoot you dead but even though he used a gun he has won the duel through martial arts..after all it is 'anything goes', this is why you should call yourself a street fighter rather than a martial artist because unlike martial art duels a real street fight has NO rules.

Not to mention I can't believe you proudly state what your style you use knowing full well that your origin of your whole martial art is from a perverted little old man who spends his time stealing women's underwear. Seriously if I were you, I would be downright embarrassing."

Ranma-chan lowered her eyes as she listened to Zach plow into her, she really couldn't do much else but what was getting to her the most was that he actually had a point. But, what really disturbed her was that this Zach guy knew about that. The forest wasn't exactly as place to run into people at random. Of course, she couldn't dwell on it any more as he continued on.

"Oh but the most entertaining part about you, is your phobia of losing. Oh, man it is so crazy it is borderline disturbing. I mean, Ranma you have such a fear of losing that you will do whatever cheap, underhanded trick you can thick of in an effect so that you will get your way.

When Ryoga defeated you the first time he used the Shi Shi Hokudan. You were trying desperately to learn the move but, when you just couldn't manage, you whined like a little girl screaming saying. '_it wasn't a real duel.'_

I swear to all that is holy, you are like a little kid crying when things don't go your way or when he failed to be someone at a video game. You are so desperate not to lose that you will do anything and everything in order not to. For example, when Ryoga was doing that dumb ki blast, once again you knew that you couldn't beat him with actual skill so you have to trick and deceive him to win those couple of battles. Not very honorable Ranma….and hell it isn't just Ryoga, Happosai you have to use women's panties, When the Kuno boy had that wishing sword instead of challenging him for it, you thought you just deceive him by pretending to be the 'prettiest girl in the world' and take it that way. I mean heaven for bit you would actual use SKILL to archive victory.

I mean hell, Ryoga is an idiot but at least he attempts to fight fair and square. Despite knowing your weakness of cats, he has never EVER used it against you….YOU? You take everything you know about Ryoga and you go right for the jugular if it means that you will win.

This is what you are Ranma, when you can't win by skill, you are tricks, you are deception, sometimes you are cruelty...Oh yes we are a lot alike Ranma. We are most charismatic evil bastards. The real difference is that I am not afraid to admit it."

"Evil?" Was all Ranma-chan could say before she felt Z's hand on her throat and with one quick motion lifted her up into the air, her body was still under that damn paralysis so she was unable to move.

"That right Ranma, You see….evil cheats, that's it's nature. It does whatever unscrupulous or immoral thing it has to do in order to WIN. That's why it is called evil." The Pig-tailed girl was brought closer to Zach whose face was mere inches away from her own. "And I have say, considering how, shapely your female form is, the fact that you are an evil little vixen makes you that much hotter.

_I am going to have lots of fun playing with you" _

Ranma-chan eyes widen with surprise as Zach's voice changed a bit from a deep masculine voice to being smooth and almost soothing in a dark kind of way. She then cried out in both surprise and disgust as she felt Zach's tongue run it's self across her cheek, the most disturbing part that it wasn't normal…it was long and slender with a forked end like a serpent's It was enough to cause Ranma-chan to shiver down to her very core. ~_He truly isn't human!~_

"Hum…I wonder if you are able to convince children."

Ranma-chan's gave a look of shock and horror as she looked at the smiling face of Zach. She could feel his hand gently rubbing her abdomen and she was downright terrified of what his possible plans with her consist of, oh if only she could move.

"SHI SHI HOKODAN!"

The sound of Ryoga's voice filled her ears, and when she saw the Green light impact the bastard's back she could actually bring herself to move again. It seemed that attack caused him to lose concentration thus weakening his paralyzing technique.

"Now Ranma!"

Hearing encouragement from her friend/Rival, the Pig-tailed girl grabbed the man in black's arm with her hands and wrapped her legs around the rest of his arm and with all the strength she could muster in her female formed quickly flipped him over causing him to finally hit the ground sense the whole fight began.

Ranma-chan not wasting any time flipped back to her feet and moved away to the other side of the yard. She need some time to collect herself…her muscle felt incredible sore and whatever adrenaline she had in order to withstand Zach's punches was long gone as she felt her body wracked with near crippling pain, the fact that she was on one knee instead of laying on the ground passed out was nothing short of a miracle. It must have been an effect to that damn technique Zach used on her. She looked over and saw Ryoga standing there, his hands still clasp before him reeling from executing the Shi Shi Hokodan, it seemed that he hadn't fully recovered yet but he was better than he was when she first found him. She was truly thankful that Ryoga intervene when he did.

"You got to use Ki-blasts on him Ranma. That bastard's too tough for mere physical attacks to work, no matter how much you beat him down."

Ranma-chan nodded to her friends advice, she just wish she had the energy to summon the Mökö Takabisha. Things were looking very bleak, she was seconds away from being down for the count and she knew it and Ryoga wasn't much better, he looked practically on his death bed a few hours ago aside for helping her out earlier she didn't know if he was going to be of any help, and the fact that Z was already up didn't help matters.

"If it isn't one thing it is another." Z calmly dusted himself off and felt his shoulder. Considering that is where the ki attack hit him it would make sense it would tingle a bit. It seemed that he was glad that it wasn't big enough to do any real damage. "Well well well, I was wondering how long it would take you to come back into the world of the living. Welcome back Ryoga….it seems I didn't 'gift wrap' you tight enough…well that's ok you know what they say. The more the merrier. But, sense now it is two on one I think it s time for me to stop playing around now. "

Both Ranma-chan and Ryoga got into a ready stance….well at least they attempted to anyway. They both watch as Z was giving them a crazed grin and for the first time they could actually see his aura…it was seeping out from his body like a yellow mist. They both tried not to show it but they felt overwhelmed now by his mere presence.

"Get ready boys…"

Before Zach could take a single step everyone who was watching the fight suddenly saw a small shadow come out of nowhere, striking the ground at the center of the Tendo back yard causing a shockwave bringing everyone off their feet with the exception of Zach. Ranma-chan and Ryoga along with the Tendos found themselves both surprised and relieved once she found out what hit the ground. "Old Ghoul?…."

"Granny?"

Zach on the other hand had an annoyed look on his face, perhaps for the first time sense this whole thing began. "Step aside old woman; this is not your business."

Cologne was place on top of her Staff looking directly at Zach with large fierce eyes. "That is where you are wrong Zach, whenever you are involved with anything it instantly becomes my business. This fight is over _snake_, that is unless you believe that even you can take on all three of us."

Zach growled his frustration becoming more apparent. "Of course, they are going to have to prepare three urns because when I-"

The silver haired man stopped for a second and with a curious glance his eyes glanced over to Ryoga. As if looking at the lost boy under a magnifying glass his frustration was replaced by a tiny smirk, his eyes moved and back over to the female form of Ranma and looking at her his smirk grew wider. In fluid motion, Z calmly jumped up and landed on the roof the Tendo house. "Alright, You will get your wish old crone….but don't worry boys, we WILL pick this up on a later date…I will make sure 'deliver' of when and where our continuation will take place. Until we meet again."

"Hey wait!" Ranma yelled out to the retreating Zach but it was too late as he already disappeared. She cursed under her breath as she finally felt the pain her body was wracked with over take her and as she hit the ground she finally let the darkness take her.

* * *

Well there it is, Chapter 4. Make sure to send me feedback about the fight scene I am not really sure it turned out all right. You know what they say about being your own worst critic? Well that is defiantly the case with me. Let me know what you all think, be gentle. ;p

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the story and I hope to have chapter 5 up not to long after turkey day. :)

- Xul


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